Never Look Back
by Zaerith Vrinn
Summary: Peach, Daisy, and the Koopalings are kidnapped, the Marios and Bowser join forces to save them, but only manage to rescue Peach. Since he tried to stop her plans the witch turns Bowser human. As they attempt rescue Peach learns there's more to Bowser BxP
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **This is my first Mario Bros fanfic, and thus my first time ever writing for any of these characters so please be nice, and forgive any OOCness or whatever. If you want you can give me tips ofn characterization, and even make a few plot suggestions (since I don't have this fic planned out to the finest details), but please keep it to a minimum. I've read a few fics where Daisy and Peach are cousins and some where they are just friends, I'm going to use the cousins idea.

**Warning: **Lots of plot, Bowser humanization (Not this chapter), eventual BowserxPeach. Depending on how I feel while writing this I may bump up the rating for any or all of the following reasons; Language, graphic violence, sexual content. There definitely will be language.**  
>Disclaimer: <strong>If you recognize it: it is not mine, if you don't it is.

Never Look Back

Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom opened her eyes and blinked a few times. With a yawn she rose from her bed, trying to remember what she had been dreaming about before she had awoken. It had been an interesting dream, full of adventure, laughs, and pink. Peach giggled, she was such a girl sometimes. She stretched her arms and yawned a second time before she pushed her blankets off and climbed out of bed. Following her usual morning ritual, she crossed to her bathroom and undressed of a shower.

Feeling the warm water slash down on her, soaking her golden hair and flattening it against her body, Peach started to really wake. Her mind gradually leaving her strange dream world, and finally focusing into reality. The princess finished up her shower, running shampoo and conditioner through her long hair, and rinsing it out and finishing up with a layer of body wash.

Thoroughly clean, Peach turned off the water and stepped out of her shower, grabbing a town and beginning to dry off. As she did, her fogged up mirror began to clear, peach wrapped her towel around her thin frame and took another to wrap around her hair while she applied her make up.

While stunningly beautiful naturally, everyone insisted she wear eyeshadow, lip stick and blush to make her look older, and more mature, as a princess should be. A loving mother to her subjects, and a counselor to the nobles. As peach applied a soft bright pink color to her lips a single thought crossed her mind, almost as clear as if she were actually hearing it.

"I'm going to be kidnapped today." She said to her reflection calmly.

She had a feeling deep down that somehow this was true, and in her mind she felt it as a fact. She was going to get kidnapped. Peach thought for a moment to hide somewhere, tell people she was going off, to try to postpone it, but the princess knew in her heart that no matter what she tried she would still be kidnapped. There was no reason for her to be so sure of this fact, but she was. Bowser never gave up when he wanted to take on a 'romantic escapade' as he thought of it. Peach signed and finished applying her make up. Best not make a fuss or else innocent people could end up getting very badly hurt on her behave..

The princess was right about one thing. She would be kidnapped, but this time Bowser would not be responsible, and she would not be alone.

–

In her own castle many miles away, Princess Daisy of Sarasaland woke with start. Unlike her cousin, she wanted to forget her dream immediately, good thing she was. As she too got up, following her own morning ritual of, breakfast first, then shower and get dress, her mind racket with fear, and she was a bit jumpy. She'd been having a scary dream, she couldn't remember all the details, and she'd rather not if she could help it, all she could remember was that she and her cousin Peach were in danger.

"It was just a dream." she murmured to herself around a breakfast cake that tasted like cinnamon and chocolate, "It was just a dream, it was just a dream." Daisy excused herself early from breakfast, finding she had no appetite. She crossed the castle back to her room and into her shower.

The warm water calmed her, and soon enough the dream was almost completely forgotten as she sang in the shower, cleaning her hair and creamy skin. She stepped out, feeling refreshed, and slightly silly having been so worked up earlier over a dream she couldn't even remember. She dried herself and started to put on make up, a little less enthusiastically as her cousin. Sometimes Daisy really wished she wasn't a princess, she thought she looked plenty grown up with out all the eye shadow and blush.

She shook her head as she took the towel out of her hair and started up her dryer so she could brush her hair. Daisy dressed in her usual yellow dress, and continued to primp up her hair. She stood in front of the mirror inspecting herself for any flaws that would make someone send her back in to put on more make up. Finding nothing, Daisy began to notice her appetite had at last returned and turned to go back and see it the kitchen's had anything else she could eat before she began her duties as princess.

She paused a moment before she left her room. Something flashed in her mind, an freaky image from her dream. She began to worry again, and felt silly. The princess couldn't go out like this. She turned around again, reaching for her phone, maybe she could call Peach, or Luigi and talk. Both of them had such great ways of making her feel better when she was upset about something. But who should she call? Peach would be busy with her own royal duties, and at this time of day, Luigi probably would even be out of bed yet. Daisy sighed and closed her eyes, picking a number from her speed dial at random.

As the she waited for an answer Daisy saw a shadow move across the wall, she turned with a gasp.

"Ello? Daisy, is that-a you?"

–

As one could expect, Luigi was still asleep when his phone went off. He clung to his dream anyway, trying to ignore that infernal ringing. He was in a pipe, trying to stop a leak that just wouldn't stop spraying water all over the place. He looked around for his brother, hoping Mario would have any idea how to stop the flooding, but the other plumber was no where to be seen leaving Luigi all alone in a pipe that was quickly filling with water.

His phone rang again, but he couldn't find it. Who would be calling him in the middle of a flood anyway? Then Luigi realized of course that he was dreaming and opened his eyes groggily. In the bed across the room Mario moaned, "Luigi! Answer your-a stupid phone-a!"

Luigi made a grumbled tempt at a reply that sounded something like "Iwajnubsbleeehh." Before reaching over his nightstand to his phone. He blinked at it a few times, checking the name on the caller ID. Daisy; of course, who _else_ would call him this early in the morning?

"Mmmm..." He hit the accept call button and waited for Daisy to greet him, as she usua;;y was the first and last to say anything when she called. Seriously it was like the girl was physic and knew precisely when he would pick up. He became slightly concerned when she didn't say anything.

"Ello? Daisy, is that-a you?" He asked.

There was silence for a split second before he heard Daisy's shrill scream, and then it suddenly silenced.

"Daisy? Daisy?" he said into his phone, his heart raced, and even Mario sat up in his bed, clearly having heard the scream. "Daisy! What happened? Daisy!" A voice answered him, a woman's voice, but not Daisy's usual cheery morning peep.

"Daisy can't play right now." The woman on the other end of the line whispered. "Maybe perhaps you could ask Bowser if you can come over. I'm sure he could use some company real soon..."

"What?" Luigi asked, "Bowsah? What about Bowsah? Hey!"

There was no response.

Mario hopped over with one leg already in his overalls, while he was attempting to put his hat on at the same time. "What was-a that?" he asked.

"Daisy is in danger-a!" Luigi replied, throwing on his clothes almost inhumanly fast as he told Mario what the woman on the phone had said. "What-a do you think-a she meant by-a that?"

Mario shrugged as the brothers raced out of their room grabbing only a few pieces of bread for breakfast. "We can-a only assume-a that Bowsah is involved-a somehow!"

"Do you think-a maybe that Peach could-a also be in danger-a?" Luigi asked with genuine concern about the other princess well as Daisy.

Mario almost tripped, "We-a must assume so, odds are, if Bowsah really is involved-a, that they-a are already at his-a castle."

"And what-a do we-a do now?"

The Mario brothers were out the door and heading toward a warp pipe, where they stopped and caught their breaths. What exactly was their plan? Barge into the Darklands with no idea who was behind the mysterious attack? It was better than no plan, at least. Luigi grabbed his brother's hand and gave it an uneasy squeeze before they both jumped into the warp pipe that would lead them directly to the Darklands.

–

Bowser was perhaps the only one who wasn't pulled from dreams that morning. As much as he loved sleep, Bowser had been preoccupied the whole night with troubles he wouldn't talk about, and no one dared ask. There were only a handful in the whole kingdom who knew the significance of the date, and had any guess as to why it kept Bowser awake.

Kammey and Kamek glanced out the door of the meeting room they'd been in all night, akwake as well, to make sure his cruelness was not disturbed during his restless pacing across the castle. The day before had been the anniversary of his wedding to his wife Clawdia, and also the anniversary of the day she had walked out on him and their kids, the day Bowser always worried she would try to worm her way back into their lives.

Bowser grumbled to himself unintelligibly, either from his usual dispassion for this topic, or from weariness of his annual all nighter, and glanced up at the clock. His anniversary had been officially over for several hours, but he never dared go to bed until the next day was over, he didn't want anyone besides Kammy and Kamek to know how much he dreaded that day, and so he carried on crankily through the following day without any sleep.

He yawned loudly, but continued to pace, standing up straight an pretending to be well rested while servants began to rouse and dash about preparing for the day. While his back was tuned away from the stairway, his oldest son climbed down, having woken up early to get to the music hall so he could practice with the new instrument he had picked up. Ludwig paused as he watched his father pacing and hear him yawn again.

"Father?" He announced as he knowingly approached his sleep-deprived Dad. "Were you awake all night _again_?" he asked.

If Bowser was surprised at all that his son was awake and daring to talk to him he made no indication of it, but simply stopped in his pacing and looked back at him. "No, I just-" His lie was cut off by another yawn, "Oh whatever, yes. I was." he admitted as he turned away again, trying to hold back yet another yawn.

Ludwig reached his father's side and stood with him a moment, before turning his head to look his father in the face. "She hasn't come back in all these years. She probably won't ever." He told him.

"_Probably_." Bowser repeated, but made no further comment.

"Father, why do you continue to abuse yourself like this year after year?" the blue haired Koopaling asked. "Do you _want_ mom to come back?" he dared suggest.

Bowser growled in a fashion which Ludwig knew meant that if it had been anyone besides his own son, Bowser probably would have roasted the messenger who let those words slip passed their lips. The oldest Koopaling took a step away from his father just in case.

"No. I _don't_ want her to come back." He snarled, "And if she does, I want to throw her back out myself." There was no threat in Bowser's voice, just a promise. If Clawdia ever tried to come back Bowser would see to it she regretted it.

Ludwig understood his father's anger completely and had deep respect for him, and at certain times of the day depending on what day of the week it was, he dared to say he even loved his father. He bore no such feelings for his mother though, a sentiment shared by all the older Koopalings, the younger ones didn't quite understand, and as far as Bowser Junior was concerned, if Peach wasn't his mother, then he simply didn't have one. Oh to be young and so naive...

"She won't come back Father." Ludwig tried to assure the King.

"Maybe." Bowser agreed, "But unless someone comes to the castle asking how much they want for her bounty dead or alive, I'd rather just wait her out like I do every year."

It was at this point, Ludwig stopped understanding his father, but instead of pressing the matter, Ludwig choose instead to back away, leaving the King in peace and returning to his original goal of finding the time to master his new instrument.

Alone again Bowser continued his pacing, waiting for the day to come and go so he could finally get some rest. As he passed the window for- who knows, the thousandth time?- he thought he saw a shadow fly passed the wall. Not outside the window, but inside, as if someone or something had just flew by him. Bowser turned, but saw nothing. He stared at nothing but an empty hall for several long minutes before he decided it was have been a trick of his tired mind and shook his head, and continued his pacing.

Behind him, a shadow lurked among the others waiting for him to turn before it continued its way through the castle, following Ludwig to the music room, where it knew no one would be listening for his terrified scream.

**Author's end note: **I would like to inform you all who just read this that any mistakes in spelling/grammar are probably the direct result of the fact that I, like Bowser up there, have not slept in almost a full twenty-four hours. Please review and tell me what you think of my story. I promise next chapter I will explain more. Now I'm going to bed. -passes out-


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: **Hey, I'm starting writing chapter 2 only a day after posting chapter 1, though clearly I haven't posted for a week. This is because as I type this I am running on copious amounts of Caffine and 3 hours of sleep. Thanks for coming back

**Warning: **Language

**Disclaimer: **Mario Bros and all things related are not mine, I only own the witch and any names you don't recognize from the games.

Never Look Back

Mario and Luigi tramped across a barren wasteland, there were many unexplored segments of the Darklands, and this was the least inhabited of any the brothers had seen so far. There was a fort up ahead, and a castle in the distance. If they could make it to that castle they could probably learn which of Bowser's _many_ castles he was currently residing in.

As they approached closer and closer to the fort, they saw a few members of the Koopa Troop and other supporters of Bowser coming in and out of the fort talking to guards and each other, none of them noticed the advancing plumbers until the two Italian brothers were close enough to cough and get their attention.

"Oh shit!" A Hammber bro cried standing up straight and raising his hammer defensively. A Shy-Guy gave a short shriek, but said nothing, and a Dry Bones jumped up from where he had been lying as if to take a nap.

"The Mario Brothers!" People started crying.

"What are they doing here?"

"Did someone miss orders from the Boss to keep an eye on them?"

"Should we capture them?

Clearly the fort was not prepared or even expecting their arrival. Mario and Luigi cast nervous glances at each other, before Mario cleared his throat and announced. "Pardon-a me!" His voice silenced the growing crowd of ready to panic workers. "We-a aren't here for a fight-a. We-a want to speak-a to Bowsah, do any-a of you know-a where he is-a?"

The guards looked at each other questioningly. The Shy-Guy spoke, soft, but clear, "Why do you want to speak with His Ungratefulness?"

Mario put his hands on his hips, "That-a is private-a information." He said simply.

The Koopa Troop started to raise their weapons, Mario tensed, ready for a fight when Luigi stepped forward with his arms raised, "We-a have received-a threat, which-a mentioned Bowsah, we-a just want-a to be sure-a that we-a aren't being lead-a on a wild-a goose chase."

The group glanced at each other, credit maybe to the accent or they really had no idea had what was going on, but they lowered their weapons and whispered to each other quietly. Mario grabbed his brother and in a hushed voice demanded to know why he had told them that.

"We-a don't have time-a to be picking fights-a!" Luigi hissed at him, "Best be on everyone's good-a side if we want-a to save-a Daisy!"

It was almost scary how forceful Luigi could be when Daisy was in danger. Mario rolled his eyes, but could find no reason to argue with his younger brother. Even if he had, the Hammer bro approached him with his hammer raised forcefully, but not threateningly.

"It just so happens that Bowser, is in a castle reachable through a warp pipe in the ol' abandoned one, right up here." He said, "We will escort you under armed guard, perhaps Lord Bowser will speak to you, perhaps not." this was not up for negotiation.

He beckoned the group standing nearby, the Dry-Bone, the Shy-Guy and a Goomba. They surrounded the brothers. Mario tensed, he hated that there were weapons pointed at him and he could do nothing about it lest he start a fight. He glared up at the castle in the distance, at the pace they were going it would take at least an hour to reach the castle, and who knew how long it would take to talk to Bowser, if Bowser would talk to them at all. If Daisy and Peach were in any danger, would they have time to rescue them?

–

Perhaps if he hadn't been so exhausted Bowser would have realized something was wrong. Since Ludwig had dropped by earlier that morning the King hadn't heard a peep from any of his other kids. Strange as it was that he hadn't had to break up a fight or at least threaten to break up a fight, Bowser was simply too tired to think too hard about it. Ludwig had probably just warned his siblings ahead of time that their father was going to be grumpier than usual today and they were doing their best to stay on his good side. Or maybe they were all aware of why Bowser had been up all night.

Whatever the case, for a while Bowser thought he was having a pretty good day. That was until Kamek arrived with startling news. The Mario Bros were in custody, on their way to his palace, and they 'only wanted to talk'.

As soon as his long time adviser had said it, Bowser bit his tongue to be sure he wasn't asleep. "What was that?" He asked all though it sounded more like 'whamusat?'

"The Mario brothers." Kamek repeated slowly, "A Shy-Guy at the fort in the wastes just sent a message saying that the brothers approached their post and asked to see you. They mentioned something about a threat and they want to know if we have any other information."

"That don't make any sense." Bowser replied groggily.

"Hmmm, it does seem a bit suspicious though, hall I double the number of guards on duty?" Kamek asked.

'Whatever." Bowser brushed some stray strands of hair out of his eyes with his claws, "How long until they get here?"

"About half an hour I think, depending on if they've run into anything else out in the wastes, you know how unpredictable that land is."

Bowser merely shrugged, "I'll go wait at the warp pipe, and if I even sense the tiniest bit of funny business…" Bowser blew a small lick of flame, but even a small one was enough to catch the nearby curtains on fire, which Kamek quickly put back out with a water spell. Bowser had something he'd wanted to say after his demonstration of his fiery prowess, but he'd either forgotten it or fell asleep on his feet again. Kamek coughed once to snap Bowser's attention.

"Go find the Koopalings, I haven't seen anyone except Ludwig all day." Bowser ordered, "Make sure they aren't, you know, doing…stuff."

"My liege, perhaps, just this once you should take a power nap?" Bowser glared daggers at Kamek for the suggestion, but Kamek quickly continued, "Not to say you can't make it through the day without sleep of course, but it would probably be better to face the Marios with at least _some_ rest." The Magikoopa added.

"Fine, whatever. Just find my kids."

"Right away Sire."

As the Mario Bros walked with weapons pointed at them they understood what their guards had meant when they said this castle was abandoned. Clearly nobody had been here for years, perhaps not even Bowser himself. They left clear footprints in the dust everywhere they stepped and the echoes of their foot falls jumped back to them from wall to wall. There were paintings hung crooked or fallen to the ground that were so faded it was impossible to tell who the subjects were.

The group stayed close together, except for the Goomba who would run around, and explore, though she stayed within sight of the group. Mario had asked if they should be on the watch out for ghosts and the guards had merely laughed, except the Shy-Guy who remained silent.

"No one, not even Boos come into this place except by accident in the warp pipes, or to get thrown out into the wastes." The Hammer Bro told them.

"Wastes-a?" Luigi asked, looking nervously around them. The place might have been abandoned, but something about the castle made his hair stand on end.

"That desert back there." The Dry Bones said, "It's called the wastes because nothing grows around here."

"And you're only stationed out here if you're a waste of time." The Shy-Guy added, breaking his silence for the first time since leaving the fort.

"What?" The brothers asked in unison.

The Hammer Bro knocked the Shy-Guy upside the head with his hammer, and a side from a soft 'ow' the Shy-Guy did nothing. "You moron, why did you say that? Now they're going to think we're retards!"

"Wouldn't be far from the truth." The Shy-Guy muttered, "At least not in your case."

The Goomba and Dry Bones laughed, and the Hammer Bro glared at his companions, "You guys suck."

"Not as much as you do." The Goomba said sticking her tongue out.

"Watch it." The Hammer Bro growled raising his hammer threateningly.

"What are you going to do?" The Goomba teased dropping back and running surprisingly fast around the group. "You can't aim for shit!"

The Hammer Bro looked hurt by the comment, but said nothing.

"Wait, What-a is this?" Mario asked.

The Dry Bones looked at him. "We aren't exactly the top of our troops, nobody at that fort is. We're all outcasts, misfits, and klutzes." As if to prove this claim, he suddenly tripped and fell apart. He quickly reassembled himself, something that had happened quite a few times since they had left. "Goomblina, over there has the attention span of gnat and Hanc can't aim."

Goomblina jumped up almost happily clicking her feet together in the air. "That's us!" She piped.

Hanc, the Hammer Bro pouted, but said nothing.

Marion looked up at the front of the group. "And what about the Shy-Guy?"

"Don't call me that." He replied, "I have a name."

Mario waited for the introduction, but when the silence continued asking, "And-a if you-a have a name-a, what is it?"

"You are not qualified to know that." The Shy-Guy said simply.

Mario rolled his eyes, "So if I can't-a call you Shy-Guy, and you won't-a tell me your name-a, what do-a I call you?"

Don't be fancy." The Hammer Bro said, "Just call him 'Hey you' like everyone else."

"Or Shorty." The Dry Bones added. "And don't bother asking what he did to end up here no one knows. He won't tell anyone." He tripped again and fell apart.

"And-a what about you?" Luigi asked, after he reassembled "What's your-a name?"

"Bones VI." He replied, "Or just Bones. It's stupid I know, a Dry Bones called Bones, but I don't want to explain."

"No need-a." Mario replied, "I feel-a the same way-a when people ask about my name-a."

"Why?" Bones asked.

"Because-a we're the 'Mario Bros'." Luigi answered for his brother, "That mean's that-a Mario is our Surname-a, people always-a ask-a Mario what-a his first-a name is."

And-a I don't want-a to talk about-a it." Mario said definitively folding his arms, and decided to change the subject before any of their guards decided to ask him anyway. "So why-a was this-a place abandoned-a?"

The company all looked at each other and shrugged, "No one knows really. The most logical reason is that there just was no reason to stay here since the land was so inhabitable, you know we have to keep an eye on our stock and order more food if we start running low." Goomblina answered, "But the more commonly believed story is that this castle was built over a black magic hot spot, a bunch of people would go missing and never return. They say half the Royal Koopas disappeared before the king at the time- that would be King Bowser's Great-great-great-something-uncle, I think- decided it was too dangerous to stay there and moved the remaining family out."

Luigi felt something, like a breeze or a breath on his neck, and turned, but saw nothing. He whimpered slightly. He almost swore he could feel the missing people walking around, looking for help, never finding it. Mario put a hand on his brother's shoulder to calm him before he started bawling. "Remember Daisy." The older brother mouthed.

And just like that Luigi was brave again. "How much further to the warp pipe?"

"It's just up ahead." Shorty said pointing in front of them where they could see footprints, a fine layer of dust covered them, but there were defiantly foot prints in the hall, "Those are ours from when we were stationed out here, we just follow them from here..."

Goomblina ran a head of them, Hanc stayed on their left, Bones on their right, and Shorty kept a good pace just a few feet in front of the brothers. At last they came to a door, and with a little effort opened it. Inside there was a purple Warp pipe, that was in as good of condition as the rest of the castle, but still working. There was a fresher set of footprints circling the room before exiting another door.

"Hmm, that's odd." Shorty said looking at the foot prints, "I wonder who made these…?"

"Probably just some loser who got lost." Hanc said, he poked Mario's shoulder. "His Ruthlessness should be waiting for you on the other side, we need to get back to our post. Goomblina! Shorty! Come on!" He instructed.

The guards turned and began they're way back through the castle, leaving the brothers alone in the room with the warp pipe. "Alright-a." Mario said after a long while of silence. "Here-a goes nothing!"

The brothers took hands again and jumped into the warp pipe together.

Like Hanc had said, Bowser was waiting when the Marios jumped out of the warp pipe. He was pacing again, he'd expected that at least on of his children would come by, or someone who did would have at least seen them, but no one had heard from the Koopalings all morning. Bowser tried not to worry, but Kamek hadn't comeback yet either.

The Marios landed with practiced grace in front of the warp pipe. Though he had taken the suggested power nap, the Koopa King was still pretty groggy and didn't want to waste any more time on the plumbers. "What do you want?" He snapped.

He expected Mario to answer, usually he was the one who confronted him, but instead it was the green clad brother -what was his name Luggy?- who stepped forward with his phone.

"Listen-a to this-a" He said pushing a button, "And tell-a me if you-a know what-a she means-a."

From the looks on the plumbers' faces they'd rather not spend valuable time bickering either, Bowser grumbled a bit, but listened.

_"Ello? Daisy, is that-a you?" _Came the green plumber's recorded voice which was followed by a scream that cut off suddenly. "_Daisy? Daisy? Daisy! What happened? Daisy!" _He continued to whine.

Just as Bowser was about to roll his eyes a cold voice answered _"Daisy can't play right now. Maybe perhaps you could ask Bowser if you can come over. I'm sure he could use some company real soon..."_

_"What?"_ The recording asked, "_Bowsah? What about Bowsah? Hey!"_

There was silence, Bowser waited to see if there was anymore, but there was none. "What the hell was that?" he snarled.

"We don't-a know." Mario replied, "We-a hoped you-a might know-a something."

"Why would I know?" Bowser growled blowing smoke between his teeth menacingly, "If you're implying I had something to do with this-"

"That's-a not what-a we meant-a!" Green-stache said, cutting him off in the middle of his threat, "The woman-a on the phone-a, she said-a that you could-a use some company real-a soon."

"I'm _King Bowser_, I don't need playmates." The Koopa snorted, "Why don't you go back to your pasta hole and stop bugging me."

"But wait a minute-a!" the more Bowser thought about it he was pretty sure the other plumber's name was Louie or something. "It-a says you-a will be in need-a of company soon-a! Has anyone-a around here-a vanished?"

Bowser's eyes widened slightly at that. He hadn't heard from his kids, but that couldn't possibly mean that someone would dare-

"Bowser!" All heads turned at Kamek's panicked outcry, "Master, the Koopalings! I can't find them anywhere and nobody seems to have seen them either!" Kamek froze in midflight when he saw the Mario bros, "Eeerrr..." he squeaked glancing between the shocked expressions of the Koopa King and the Plumber brothers.

Bowser snapped out of it first, "WHERE ARE THEY?" He roared, his temper flaring and matched only by his worry for his children.

"I- I don't know sire, no one heard anything!" Kamek replied

Just as Bowser's jaws opened for another roar of fury, laughter echoed around them as if it were coming from every direction at once, rather than one, the same voice that they had all heard over the phone. Bowser looked around wildly with smoke billowing between his teeth and the glow of fire burning in his throat, "WHERE ARE YOU?" he snarled.

The Mario bros looked around too. The laughing voice went quiet, almost as quickly as it started. "There!" Mario cried pointing up to the corner of the room, just above the door. There was what appeared to be a shadow of a woman, riding on a broom, carrying beneath her a cage filled with indistinguishable silhouettes.

The shadow shifted and pulled itself off the wall, the blackness melted off it, revealing a beautiful woman with waist length light brown hair that had a streak of darker brown hair framing the left side of her face. Her right eye was bright blue, with a perfectly round pupil, the left one was as red as Bowser's with a slit cat-like pupil. Below her, in a cage carried by magic, was all eight of Bowser's children and the two princesses.

"Mario!" Peach cried.

"Luigi!" Daisy shouted grasping the bars of their cage and reaching out toward them.

The Koopings all cried out for their father, each one calling him by a different name resulting in a jumble of unintelligible crying.

Bowser snarled, and let loose a warning flame across the floor, "LET THEM GO!" He roared and leaped forward without waiting for a response.

The witch laughed again, "I don't think so." She said vanishing, making Bowser run into the door and busting it open. She reappeared exactly where she had been a moment ago, "Sorry honey, Zehtah has to go home now, but you and the Mario brothers can keep playing with out me!" She teased as she flew over Bowser out his door while he shook rubble of himself.

"GET BACK HERE!" Bowser bellowed giving chase with speed that surprised the Marios as they ran to keep up.

Mario and Luigi kept just behind Bowser's tail as they ran through a labyrinth of halls, chasing the witch and her hostages. Another set of doors blocked the witch's path, but she simply waved her wand and they opened for her. Fortunately she wasn't paying attention to how close Bowser and the brothers were behind her, the door closed, but not before they dove through outside. Mario and Luigi didn't waste a second, as Bowser rose from the ground they ran up his tail and back and jumped over his shoulders into the air. They grasped the edge out the metal cage and quickly pulled themselves up.

"Peach! Daisy!" The brothers cried as they reach through the bars to each Princess. "We'll get you out of there!"

Peach and Daisy held each other fearfully, the Koopalings huddled together behind them, the older and bigger ones standing protectively over the smaller and younger ones, glaring at the Mario brothers. Even while in danger the family wouldn't forget their loathing for the plumbers. "Daddy!" Bowser Junior barked suddenly.

A shadow fell over them and with a thud Bowser landed clutching onto the sides of the cage with his claws, trying to get his footing, but continuously slipping. His weight caused everyone to be lurched toward him, and only their grips on the bars kept the Marios from falling. Since the cage was teathered by magic, Zehtah the witch didn't notice the extra passengers. The snarled angrily and let his feet dangle while he tried to use his teeth to chew the lock off.

"Its-a no good-a Bowsah!" Mario shouted, "You'll nevah, get it that-a way!"

Bowser shot a sideways glare at him, but didn't reply, instead turned back to the lock, "Move to the sides!" He ordered.

The Koopalings did as they were told, but Daisy and Peach looked at each other questioningly, "What? Why?" Daisy asked.

_"Move it!_" Bowser hissed and his throat began to glow with growing fire. At this the princesses dashed to either side of the cage, Bowser held the flame for several long seconds before blowing out a white hot flame which made the bars dangerously hot. The lock melted, as did several bars, Bowser used his head to knock the door to the cage open. "Come on!" he snarled.

Peach came out first, the closest to the door. Unfortunately what Bowser's weight had failed to do his fire breath did, and Zehtah looked down to see the attepted rescue.

"Oh no you don't!" She shouted, throwing a spelled down that knocked Mario and Luigi off the cage. Bowser held on, but the rocking propelled Peach into his chest and his grip started to loosen. Zaetah hissed another spell, one that hit Bowser full on and he fell, on instinct he wrapped his arm around Peach, blocking her from Zehtah's view, and making sure that she got out.

The spell sent a strange shock through Bowser's body, and he had fallen several yards before he even realized he was in pain. He let out a strangled cry, let go of Peach, and his vision danced with purple lights. What he didn't know was that he wasn't imagining the purple lights, the engulfed his body wracking pain through him until his mind couldn't take it anymore and he blacked out from it.

Before anyone could jump out of the cage, Zehtah zapped one more spell and the bars repaired themselves. She sped of her flight, almost desperate to get away with her hostages, she in such a hurry she didn't even notice that she was a passenger short.

Peach landed on her back painfully. Her body spasmed with pain, and it took all her will not to pass out, she managed to open her eyes, and with some effort pull herself into a sitting position. The ground shook around her, at first Peach didn't understand why, her head was pounding, but as she glanced around she saw Bowser had landed not too far away from her. The princess blinked, Bowser wasn't moving.

She forced herself to her feet. Bad guy or not, Bowser had helped her, and she was just to kind hearted to not check on him. After a dizzying moment Peach thought she was going to faint, but managed limp her way to the fallen Koopa. "Bowser?" She called weakly.

She could see he was breathing, and his eye slit opened for a brief moment before closing again. He was alive, but unconscious. Peach lifted a hand to touch him, but when she did a spark of purple lighting shocked her fingers forcing her to draw it back. Bowser made a pained whining noise, more like the whimper of an injured dog than the mighty Koopa. Small bolts of the purple lighting sparked all over Bowser's body for a moment, and then stopped. Peach stepped back confused. The King Koopa almost looked like he was shrinking.

Some distance away Mario ran across the field to his brother, "Weegee! Are you alright-a?"

The green clad brother nodded, while he caught his breath, he pointed towards the north, "I saw-a Bowsah fall that-a way, I think I saw-a Peach too."

"Let's go!" Mario cried grabbing his brother and bolting off in the direction his brother had pointed.

The change in landscape was very aprupt, they could still see the volcano palace Bowser lived in from their current whereabouts, but they were currently in a grassy field. To the West of them, there was a twisting river, and to the East there was dead forest petrified in ash from an ancient eruption of Bowser's volcano. Closer to where Bowser, and maybe Peach, had landed there were a bunch of rocks, they could only pray that if Peach had landed that she hadn't been skewered on them.

As they crossed a small his they could see Peach standing over someone who laid face down in the dirt. He was naked.

"Peach!" Mario called as he ran down the incline toward her and the mysterious person on the ground. "Who-a is that?" He asked when he came to a stop, Luigi only two steps behind him.

The man groaned, his voice sounded strange and yet familiar at the same time. Peach turned to him slowly, with a shocked expression on her face, Mario thought perhaps because there was a _naked _man in front of her, but when she spoke, the answer was enough to send both brother's into their own shock.

"It's _Bowser._"

**Author's end note:** I finished this later than I thought I would, and classes start soon (I'm in college so I'll have a lot of homework) so I don't know when I will be able to update this again. Please remember to review and tell me what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note: **Thank you for coming back, I promise that this chapter will be worth the wait. This chapter also has a special dedication to **23 Princess Ariana **for her understanding and support. Enjoy!

**Warning: **I think language is it for now.

**Disclaimer: **All names you don't recognize such as Zehtah and Zehkah belong to me, however names do recognize are property of Nintendo.

Never Look Back

It had never occurred to Daisy that she didn't really know the Koopalings, after two days locked in a dungeon with them, however, she knew them too well. Ludwig Van Koopa was the oldest, and with nothing better to do, he laid on the ground writing music on the floor with his claws. He was the most mature of the Koopalings, and took it upon himself to break up any fights that occurred among his younger siblings, but beyond that he just tried to ignore them. Daisy tried talking to him once or twice, but once he started writing his music, he would just nod. This was how she got him to agree that he looked like a duck and his hair looked like he stuck his tongue in a light socket.

The next oldest were the twins Lemmy and Iggy. Between the two of them, Iggy was younger, but he acted like the older one. Lemmy was small, and probably mentally challenged, he bounced his ball to his twin and complained whenever Iggy went to talk to any of his other siblings. Though Iggy sometimes got annoyed with his twin, he did really seem to care about him and even got protective of him, often trying to keep Roy from "wailing" on his twin, which most often resulted on him getting the wailing. She'd earned Iggy and Lemmy's trust for standing up to Roy for them, and she'd even torn her skirt to make a makeshift bandage for a particularly bad scratch left by their brother.

Roy was the bully of the family, despite the amount of pink he donned. He never took his sunglasses off, even when he was sleeping. He picked on all of his siblings, but the twins got his attention the most, Daisy put herself between him and the twins once, Roy didn't want to beat up on a human and left, but her act of heroism went pretty much unnoticed, so she didn't interfere anymore after that.. Not that she needed to Roy ignored his siblings for the most part.

The only girl in the family was Wendy O. Koopa, despite that she claimed to be feminine, it was clear that she spent too much time with her brothers, she acted just like them most of them time, and only started behaving like a girl when Roy teased her about turning into a boy. Daisy was then forced to endure "girl-talk" with Wendy that would quickly escalate into Wendy being completely vain and deciding she didn't need to prove her femininity anymore and stomping off to whine about getting out of the dungeon.

The next child was Morton Jr. Daisy could never get where the 'Jr.' in his name came from, no matter which Koopaling she asked. Morton himself was very talkative, but if asked about his name, would tell her everything but. The most common thing said by the Koopalings was "Shut up Morton.", most of the time he just babbled, but if anyone engaged him in an argument he showed a particular talent for turning the the most harmless words into painful insults that made Daisy offended just hearing them, even if they weren't directed at her.

Larry Koopa spent most of his time telling lies to his sibling, or pretending to be play sports, ofthen swinging his arms in a way of suggesting he was holding a base ball bat. Even in his fantasies he appeared to be cheating however. His bases were his siblings, and he got upset anytime they moved, but rarely did anything about it except steal bases when 'the ref' aka Daisy, wasn't watching.

And finally Bowser Jr spent his time on the opposite side of the dungeon from Ludwig, with his mouth covered by his bandana, using his claws to scratch drawings for his escape plans into the floor and walls. He tried to include his siblings on the planning process, but if he could ever get everyone's attention it didn't last long, and more often or not one of them would insist they didn't get a big enough part in the plan and demanded the get to do more. Often this lead to fighting and Junior going back to the drawing board- er floor.

Daisy tried to be helpful and supportive of Junior's plans, because more so than anyone else, she wanted out of the dungeon. Junior didn't seem to mind her help, and came to her first for approval of his plan, and only took his bandana off his face when he was talking to her. He eventually stated calling her "Auntie Daisy", which Lemmy picked up on, and soon most of the Koopalings called her their aunt on and off. Considering that Peach was 'Mama' to some of them, Daisy guessed she was lucky to be Auntie.

In two days, Daisy was accustomed to the Koopalings, and they didn't avoid her half as much as they did the first few hours. Wendy came over suddenly, and Daisy braced herself for girl-talk. "Do you have any sort of shaver or anything? My hair's growing back."

Daisy blinked at the odd request and blinked again when she saw that indeed, Wendy did have have short whisps of hair blonde on her scalp. "No." She answered, and couldn't help asking, "I thought you were bald naturally, why in the world would you shave your head?" Even if she wasn't the most girly princess in the world, Daisy was pretty found of her hair and couldn't imagine why anyone would intentionally go with out hair.

Wendy glared at her, Daisy expected her to turn away and stomp off to avoid talking about it, like how everyone avoided telling her why Morton had junior in his name. Instead Wendy surprised her by answering, "'cause when I grow my hair out, I look to much like..." She trailed off suddenly, glancing over her shoulder to see if any of her siblings were listening, then she lowered her voice to barely a whisper "Mom..." She finished.

"You shave you head because you look like your mo-" Daisy didn't get to finish her gasp of surprise because Wendy covered her mouth with her hand and glared daggers at her.

"Not so loud!" she hissed, but too late, a few of the Koopalings looked up in their direction, with angry, and almost hurt looks in their eyes before they turned away and things got quiet.

Daisy pushed Wendy's claws away, and asked in a whisper, "Why does it matter that you look like your mother with your hair grown out?" She couldn't comprehend that either. The Koopalings acted as if merely mentioning their mother was a crime.

"Because mom left." Wendy answered, "And I don't want to look like her!"

Daisy was thoroughly puzzled, but before she could ask further the door to the staircase that was the exit of the dungeon opened, and their captor appeared for the first time, since she had dumped them there. Daisy had been held prisoner against her will a few times, and was accustomed to being starved, but the first thing the Koopalings did was demand something to eat.

"Oh yes! I'm sorry!" the witch said, she whipped out her wand waving it and whispering an incatation and a buffet table full of food appeared in the middle of the dungeon. Funny, the woman sounded much gentler than she had the last time they had seen her, and was very being pretty polite. The Koopalings jumped on the food immediately and started eating with absolutely no manners.

"What do you want with us...Was it Zeta?" Daisy asked, tearing her eyes away from the food table despite that her mouth was watering.

"Hmm? Oh no, that would be Zehtah, and she's my sister." The new girl offered her hand polity with a smile, "My name is Zehkah, and I'm sorry about what my sister has done to you. I would have come sooner, but she was trying to keep you a surprise for me." Zehkah giggled, "But she can't keep secrets for the life of her, as soon as I learned you were down here I had to make sure you were okay."

"Well, we'll be okay if you don't forget we're here, but what do you mean we were supposed to be a surprise for you?" Daisy asked.

"Oh...Well that one, Zehtah wouldn't tell me, but once I get it from her, I'll be sure to let you know. But first, you should eat, and again I'm sorry about this. I'll try to find out more." she gave Daisy a hug, "Don't worry I won't forget you!" she turned and darted back up the stairs.

"Um...Thank you!" Daisy managed to shout before the door closed.

"That was weird." Junior said around a bite of his food. "Auntie Daisy, aren't you going to eat?"

"Yeah...sure..." Daisy muttered as she reached for a plate of fruit, she didn't recognize the types of fruit, but she rarely paid that much attention to what she was eating anyway. Daisy had eaten three round red fruits when the door opened again, and a figure climbed down. Had Zehkah come back.

No.

While the sisters were identical in both appearance and clothing, this woman's face was harder, and she glared at her prisoners before waving her wand making the buffet table disappear, the Koopalings protested but Zehtah ignored them.

\ "You were talking to my sister?" Zehtah asked Daisy, when she nodded, the witch's eyes narrowed further, "And you want to know what I want with you?" She was teasing them

The Koopalings all looked up, Daisy match her glare for glare "Yes, we would like to know what you want with us."

Zehtah giggled, but not the friendly way her sister Zehkah did, a hard cruel giggle. The door opened again, and heavy footsteps started slowly down toward them "Well the truth is I only need you Princess Daisy, and your sister heart Peach, the rest of you..." She turned to the Koopalings, "Are going with him." The new figure descending the stairs stepped into view.

The Koopalings jumped from their seats ecstatic at the sight of their father, but just as they reached him they stopped, cocking their heads and sniffing the air confused. Daisy, though she didn't know Bowser half as well as his kids did, also felt as though something were out of place.

Then she saw a flash of purple lighting behind Bowser's eyes.

–

Miles away in the mushroom kingdom, Peach and and the Mario brothers had taken the man Peach had identified as Bowser back to their house. Bowser remained unconscious for last two days. Mario had quickly fitted the bigger man with a loose T-shirt that said **Fourth Annual Plumbing Convention -Beanbean Kingdom- **he had gotten free at said convention. The shirt was a couple sizes too big for Mario, but it fit on Bowser like a hospital gown.

There was a knock at the door, Mario opened it to let Peach in, "How is he?" She asked as she entered.

Mario understood her concern, the strange man Peach had identified as Bowser left them all with questions, and worry. What else could this witch do? "His fever-a went down-a but he has not-a woken up yet-a." He shut the door behind her.

Luigi came to greet Peach as well, "Have-a you heard a from your fathah?" he asked, his concern was less for Bowser, and more for Daisy.

Peach nodded. "Once I got back I told them that Bowser was not responsible for the kidnappings, and that the Darklands are victim of this attack as well. My father has called a meeting of the Kingdoms, to be held tomorrow; representatives from the Darklands are being summoned as well."

"Do they know-a about what-a happened-a to Bowsah yet?" Mario asked.

Peach shook her head. "I didn't want to say anything until we knew more about what happened. My father said they've been sending letters back and forth with the Darklands, things are a bit of a mess over there without Bowser, so I'm starting to think maybe we should-"

Without warning the door blasted open "WHERE IS HE!" Came the unmistakeable sound of Kammy Koopa's enraged shriek, a split second later she and Kamek both flew in the door, both of them looking equally concerned, though Kammy looked slightly more murderous.

The Mario brothers jumped in front of Peach instinctively, "What-a do you want-a?" Mario cried throwing his fists up.

"What do you think we want!" Kammy spat, "We traced Lord Bowser's presence here, now what have you done with him!" She waved her wand threateningly in Luigi's face.

Mario shoved the wand out of his brother's face, "We-a didn't do anything-a!" He defended.

"Then why did we track him here?" Kamek asked with slightly less venom in his angry voice.

Peach could see that a fight would start if she didn't do anything and she pushed herself between the brothers, "We had to bring him here, we didn't know what else to do..." How was she supposed to explain.

"What do you mean?" Kammy hissed.

"Well...Uhh..." Peach looked desperately between Mario and Luigi, they too struggled with an answer while magic sparked dangerously at the wands of the two Magikoopa. They were running out of time to answer, if they couldn't figure out a way to explain what had happened the Mario's house would soon be nothing but a pile of ash.

"!'

Thankfully, maybe not, that sudden bloodcurdling scream provided just the answer they needed.

The three humans turned away from the startled Magikoopa, and rushed up the stairs, Kammy and Kamek followed. "Bowser?" Peach called as they reach the door to the guest room they had laid Bowser in.

Mario opened the door, and as soon as he did he was all but trampled by the now awake koopa-turned-human. Bowser consequently tripped over the fallen plumber, stumbling to the floor at Peach's feet. He jumped back up quickly, but wobbled on his feet, and tried to lean on the wall for support with one hand while with the other he clutched a fist full of facial hair on his chin. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!" He cried in absolute horror tugging at his red tangled beard.

"Lord Bowser?" Kamek gasped in surprise.

"I've got fuzz on my face! Skinny soft limbs! No claws! Small teeth!" Bowser pointed to every single thing he described as he screamed about it. "And no shell! Where my shell? Where's my shell!" Bowser looked at Peach with desperate panicked eyes, he wobbled again and fell to the floor unable to keep himself balanced, he clutched Peach's skirts,m "What the hell happened to me!" He shrieked.

Peach had seen Bowser angry, happy, and sad, and even scared before. But never had she seen him panic, she glanced around at everyone, wanting to comfort Bowser, but having no idea what to say or do. Nobody did. After a few moments of hyperventilating on the floor, Bowser tried again to get to his feet.

He managed to stand upright, towering over Peach at his full height. Though he had described himself as skinny, for a human he was very strongly built, with defined muscles, his skin was slightly golden, like he'd been out in the sun long enough to get a tan, his red hair was a mess from being in bed all day. His eyes looked brown at a glance, but when Peach looked at him closely she could see that they were still red.

Bowser clutched at the Plumbing shirt which was all he had on. "Who the hell wears shit like this!" He continued to complain, his face turning red from is inability to take a decent breath "I feel so vulnerable! How do you walk without tails!" Bowser started to sink again, obviously his screaming was wearing him out, he breathlessly panted on the floor, still shouting unintelligibly until he passed out.

Peach, shyly put her hand out and patted Bowser's head reassuringly, even though he was no longer conscious to feel it. Mario sighed, and picked himself up off the floor where he hadn't moved from after Bowser trampled him. "I think he took that well..." He said.

Everyone glared at him.

**Author's end note: **Thanks for reading, be sure to review and tell me what you think. The plan right now is to have one more chapter before the quest to rescue everyone begins, and then two or three chapters per rescue.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note: **Sorry again for that little rant last time, its the only way I can make my point clear to anonymous reviewers, and I don't just want to block Anons because I've gotten some very sweet reviews from anonymous readers. The point is I'm back with a real chapter like I promised.

**Warning: **Thus far I think we still only need to worry about language. I think I'll add an OOC warning just in case, but given what Bowser just went through I think he deserves to be a bit out of character at least for a while.

**Disclaimer: **SOPA can suck it. I'm not harming anyone, and not making any money off this. And if I were, it wouldn't be enough to put up with that bill.

Never Look Back

"I don't like this at all...It smells like Black Magic." Kamek growled.

"Is that a figure of speech or can you actually smell magic?" Peach asked innocently as she cracked an egg over her mixing bowl.

"Good question, here's a better one:" Kammy hissed at her, "Why the hell are you baking at a time like this?"

Peach choose to ignore the female Magikoopa's choice of words and answered politely "Baking is my hobby. When I feel like celebrating I bake; when I'm sad, I bake, and when I'm worried about something I bake." She glanced up passed the kitchen door toward the stairs, "And I think Bowser could really use some cake right now."

After passing out again they'd dragged him back into bed and waited again for him to wake up, and about another hour later he did. Though, considerably calmer than last time, he was clearly still distressed about his predicament and locked himself in his temporary room refusing come out or to talk to any of them, throwing a silent tantrum.

"His ungratefulness doesn't need your pity!" Kammy spat. "Besides, if you're making him a cake then why are you using cupcake molds?"

"You can ignore her." Kamek snapped with an irritated growl. "She's just mad because the last time she tried to bake King Bowser a cake he ended up being sick for three days and he forbade her from ever baking again, or even entering the kitchens."

Peach gave an acknowledging nod to Kamek while Kammy smacked him. "I'm using cupcake molds for the rest of us. Bowser's cake is in the oven." Satisfied with the batter for the cupcakes Peach set the bowl aside and shifted her attention to a new mixing bowl in which she was making pink frosting, "Mario, Luigi, could one of you run to the store and get me some strawberries?" She called.

"_Strawberries._" Kammy snorted, as if the very idea of them made her sick. "And why do you need strawberries for a _cake?_"

Peach rolled her eyes slightly as she mixed a bit of food coloring into her frosting bowl. "Ignore her again." Kamek told her, "She's allergic to strawberries so she just can't comprehend that there's no better match then chocolate and strawberry."

"There is too! What about chocolate and caramel?" Kammy shouted at him.

Kamek made a face, "Caramel and chocolate should never mix." He replied. "And you can't convince me otherwise so don't even try."

"What about chocolate and mint?"

"Hmmm, true mint and chocolate are really great together, but they don't taste good with strawberries."

"Then get rid of the wretched strawberries!"

"Don't you talk about strawberries like that!"

Peach rolled her eyes again, if this was a daily thing with the two Magikoopa then she sort of understood why Bowser was so short tempered with them. Mario pushed his way passed the two Magikoopa holding a bowl of fresh strawberries, "We had-a some in the fridge-a." He explained before Peach could tell him how fast that had been.

"Well after you didn't have any three times in a row, we can't be too careful, thank you!" She said with a wink. The oven dinged and Peach excused herself to pit on mitts to grab the cake and put the cupcakes in.

She left the cake to set and cool for a few minutes while she the poured cupcake batter into the molds and put them into the oven, setting the timer for the perfect temperature for cupcakes that weren't too moist or over baked. Meanwhile Kammy and Kamek failed to stop arguing, the topic at least had changed from strawberries to whose fault the 'magic marker incident' was.

"You shouldn't have left they were he could find them!"  
>"Well, <em>you<em> shouldn't have told them they were made of _real_ strawberries!"

"See? Yet another reason why strawberries are the worst fruit in the world!"

And then they were back on strawberries. The princess bit her tongue trying not to tell Kammy stawberries were berries not fruit. With a light sigh Peach finished frosting the cake and decorated the circumference of the pastry with a total of eight strawberries. She reached to pick up one more to put in the center, but paused; eight was enough, she wouldn't have room for a message if she put anymore on.

While the argument of magic marker's and strawberries continued around her Peach found a tube of pre-made frosting that was a darker pink than her base frosting and hovered over the cake, trying to come up with something for Bowser's cake to say. "Hey, what should I right on the cake?"

"Sorry-a your kids-a got kidnapped-a?" Mario suggested, Peach couldn't tell if that was a joke or not.

"I want to make him feel better, not make him angry." The princess replied, "Now be serious, what should I write?"

"Write 'Kamek is a Ding-Bat!' that'll cheer him up!" Kammy snarled.

"Not as much as 'Kammy is an Old Hag!' will!" Kamek retorted.

Sadly those suggestions were utterly serious.

Peach shook her head and gave a heavy sigh. Maybe she should just leave it blank and put another strawberry in the middle. Kamek and Kammy continued to snap back and forth, and pulled Mario into their argument when they suggested write 'Mario is a big fat loser'. The Italian plumber tried to defend himself and worm his way back out but the argument was like a magnetic vortex. There was no escape, and Peach knew she wasn't the only one with a headache from it.

The princess looked sadly at the empty space on the cake; she'd really wanted to write something there, but she supposed a strawberry would look pretty in that spot as well. Just as she was about to set the frosting tube down she received a tap on the shoulder, she turned her head, "Luigi?"

The younger plumber leaned forward and whispered his suggestion in her ear, most likely to keep from being sucked into the ever growing argument vortex. Peach's eyes widened and sparkled at the suggestion, "That's a great idea Luigi, thank you!" She smiled and began the task of carefully writing each letter in elegant swirls of frosting.

Luigi gave her a thumbs up, "No problem-a!"

"Weeeeee-Geeeeee! Come-a over here-a and help-a me, it's-a two on one over here-a!" Mario begged. Luigi's eyebrows furrowed with worry and he looked as if he had been called to the gallows, but he turned dutifully to his brother and with one desperate look at Peach, joined the argument at Mario's side.

"Sorry." Peach said over her shoulder as she packed Bowser's cake into a box and wrapped it in a ribbon. "I'll be back in a minute to break this up." She picked up the box delicately and hurriedly left the kitchen, stealing up the stairs as fast as she could in her heels and skirt. She slowed down when she reached the hall, and walked carefully as she approached Bowser's door, like a hunter trying not to startle an animal.

She stood outside the door in silence for a moment before she reached up and rapped gently on the door with her knuckles. "Bowser? Bowser?" He didn't answer, Peach knocked again, "I know you're still in there Bowser!"

He still didn't answer.

Peach sighed and leaned her head against the door, "Listen Bowser, I know you just had a lot taken from you, and this probably isn't nearly enough to make up for it, but I made you something." She listened carefully and thought she heard movement inside the room, but nothing else. "Bowser." She said sternly, "You can't lock yourself in there forever. Just because you aren't facing your problems doesn't mean they aren't still there, and hiding from them won't get your kids back. You need to come out here and face this; you aren't doing anyone any favors by staying in there, least of all yourself."

Bowser didn't come to the door or answer, but Peach understood that he needed time for her words to sink in. "I'll leave this here for you." She said leaning over and placing the box on the gently floor. She turned around and began her trip back to the kitchen in silence. She had made it half way down the stairs before she heard the creak of an opening door; she glanced back up and saw Bowser peaking out from the room.

He glanced around nervously as if checking to make sure nobody was watching him, clutching the door for support. He looked down and saw the package she left and leaned down to pick it up. Peach allowed herself a small smile before she turned away and continued back towards the kitchen. The first thing she noticed was that the arguing had stopped and been replaced by almost civil chit-chat.

The moment she came back in, Mario leapt from his seat, "Alright-a, we got it-a, write on the cake-a 'Bowsah is the greatest-a', that outta cheer him up-a."

"The truth always cheers him up." Kammy added.

Peach glanced at Luigi, who shrugged, and then they both burst out laughing.

"What?" The other three asked.

Peach looked and them and while still laughing shook her head.

Meanwhile, upstairs Bowser sat on the floor studying the box Peach had left him. He could smell the cake inside, and as much as he loved Peach's baking, he failed to see how a cake could possibly make him feel better in a situation such as this. His children were gone, that witch had made a fool out of him by easily blowing him away and on top of that she had…done this to him!

Bowser clutched his hands into fists digging his fingernails into his palms painfully; he didn't flinch from the pain, but because of how easily the soft human flesh tore. He looked at his palm; his weak human palm where two of four fingernails had sunken through the skin and left small punctures that bled slightly. He rain his hand to his lips and licked the wound, his saliva sealed the nicks and stopped the bleeding.

He looked again at the box, and with a dejected sigh grabbed the red ribbon that held the lid on. He tugged it gently and it didn't budge, half angry and half despairingly he yanked hard on it, wishing desperately that he could just shred the stupid ribbon with his claws like he normally would. It slid apart with ease this time and he opened the lid, even more upset then he had been a moment ago, until he saw the cake, masterfully hand crafted by Princess Peach herself, with a pink message in her beautiful handwriting that proclaimed the words he most needed to hear, or as this case was, read.

"Everything will be alright"

Aside from the occasional snap between Kammy and Kamek, things downstairs had mellowed out into a serious discussion on what they were supposed to do about the kidnappings. As Peach had said, her father would be hosting a meeting for the kingdoms to decide the right course of action. Neither of the Mario bros really wanted to wait, Luigi especially wanted to go out and rescue Daisy, they'd waited long enough, he thought, but Peach convinced him that since it wasn't just their land that had been attacked, but the Darklands as well, her father thought it was necessary to bring global attention to the threat and rally as many allies as they could.

The debate at hand currently was who would go to the meeting to represent the Darklands, Kamek or Kammy.

"I've served the royal family for much longer, and more closely, than you have, I'll go." Kamek said.

"No, I'll go." Kammy argued, " I know more about outside politics everyone knows a woman is better looked upon by the public." She then brushed some hair out of her face, " And my beautiful face will put the kingdom in a better light anyway."

"Scare the other kingdoms to death more likely." Came a new voice "I'll go."

Everyone jumped, Kammy and Kamek leaped out of their seats, "Lord Bowser!"

Bowser was leaning against the doorway at an awkward angle, obviously he still hadn't gotten the hang of standing upright or walking without the weight of his shell or his tail keeping him balanced. Everyone stared at him as he made his attempt to leave the wall and take a seat at the table. None of them had heard him coming since his footfalls were so quiet as compared to his usual stomping.

"The Darklands are _my_ kingdom and _my_ responsibility, if there's a meeting of the kingdoms then I should go to represent them." He finished as he sank into one of the chairs, he made a face when he sat down, and shifted uncomfortably in the chair.

"My King, are you sure you're ready for-" Kamek started but was quickly cut off.

"Of course I'm ready!" Bowser huffed, "My brain didn't get turned into mush! I can handle talking to a room of officials!"

"I'm-a sure you can talk-a to the kings and queens," Mario said, "The concern-a would be if-a you could stand-a and walk."

Bowser glared at him, "This meeting isn't until tomorrow, right?" He looked at Peach who nodded without meeting his gaze, "Then I got twenty-four hours to figure out how this body is supposed to work, I'll be fine!" he declared.

Peach spoke up, "Well what are you going to wear?" She asked eying the plumbing shirt he was still wearing, "You can't go to the meeting like that, you look like a hobo."

"Oh Peachie, I didn't know you cared so much." Bowser grinned, Peach scooted away from him, Bowser chuckled and turned away from her to Kamek, "You can take care of that, right?"

"Yessir." Kamek lifted his wand, and sparked flew out of the end of it. There was a bright flash that made everyone close or cover their eyes, as soon as it was over they opened again.

Bowser sat precisely where he had been a moment before, but now instead of the large shirt he wearing magically fitted close, which included a spiked bands like the ones he used to wear in his true form. Kamek, it seemed, intended for Bowser's new outfit to resemble the King Koopa's original body as closely as possibly. He now donned a yellow tank-top with a green textured vest that brought to mind his shell, the back of which was also covered in spikes, leaving his arms sleeveless which brought attention to his his well defined muscles. He also wore tight black pants, which were decorated with spiked belts, and even the boots that completed his outfit had spikes on them.

He looked dangerous.

"Much better my lord!" Kammy chirped. "Though I say my magic would have been better."

Peach couldn't stop herself from staring at Bowser, and how he looked just as menacing as ever, "Well, then you can make him his clothes tomorrow!" She blurted, "You can't wear that in front of my parents either!"

"Or the rest of the royal court." Mario added with his mouth hanging open slightly in surprise.

"Yeah! Or the rest of the royal court!" Peach repeated.

Bowser chuckled again, "Of course, of course, whatever pleases you princess." He said with a certain smugness. He tried to stand but had to support himself on the table. "Now, I need walking practice, oh and losers, one of you needs to show me how to shave later, this mess _has_ to go." he added tugging his beard again.

"He'd have better luck convincing us to help him prepare if he wouldn't call us losers." Luigi muttered, Kamek turned to him with a frown, Luigi straightened trying to look innocent and apparently succeeded because the Magikoopa looked away and followed Kammy and his king out of the room, trying his best to instruct him on how to keep his balance.

"Try putting all your weight on on foot at a time sire." They heard him say. The sudden yelp and thud informed them that the advice hadn't helped.

Luigi's whole body relaxed once the Magikoopa and Bowser were out of site and hearing distance. Peach noticed that she had been holding her breath and let herself start breathing again. The three humans looked across the table at each other in awkward silence before Mario finally asked, "So...what-a do you think-a happened to my shirt-a when Kamek did that-a?"

"Who-a cares?" Luigi said, "You nevah wear it anyway-a."

"I do when I don't-a have any clean-a pajamas."

Peach stood up. "I should probably get back to the castle. You boys will be coming to the meeting too, right?"

"If they will-a let us in-a, yes." Mario said with a nod.

"Good." Peach said as she leaned down and gave the bothers a hug each and kissed Mario on the cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow then. Bye!"

"Bye-a-bye Peach!" They called after her.

The princess waved to them one last time before exiting the house. Bowser and his Magikoopa were outside, Bowser took a few steps in Kammy's direction practicing his walking by pacing between her and Kamek. He held his arms out trying to keep from falling, Peach covered her mouth trying not to laugh while Bowser continued to stumble, at last falling forward and landing in Kammy's arms.

"Augh, do I _have _ to be wearing shoes, I think they're just making it harder!" Bowser growled.

"I haven't seen anyone walking around barefoot, so I guess its their custom to wear shoes." Kamek replied.

"Well, fuck the stupid custom then! How do I take these off?" Bowser sank to the ground and started clawing at his boots trying to tear them off before he found the zipper and successfully got his foot free.

"Sire, might I suggest we practice without the shoes and when you get the hang of it try it with them again?" Kamek advised.

Bowser replied by throwing a boot and him, "Fine!" he snapped.

Peach couldn't suppress a small giggle, and turned away to start her trip back to the castle. Silently she wished Bowser luck on his endeavor to learn how to walk, but also imagined what he would look like tomorrow if he came in with no shoes...

**Author's end note: ** I was going to put the kingdom meeting in this chapter, but decided against it. Thanks for reading remember to review because I am still open for suggestions what sort of things happen in this fic!


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's note: **Thanks again for coming back. I find I'm writing every chance I get since the global governments are conspiring to make fan-fiction illegal; I want to get as much written as possible before they win, _IF_ they win.

**Warning:** I'll play it cool and just give Bowser his own warning for this chapter.

**Disclaimer: **Seriously Nintendo, I'm making nothing off this fanfic, while you guys make more in a year then I probably will in my whole life.

Never Look Back

"I feel ridiculous." Bowser said catching a look at his reflection in a mirror as he passed.

"You look ridiculous." Kamek told him, "But then again you agreed to let Kammy make your clothes today so there's really nothing that can be done."

"Oh shut up, you old geezer!" Kammy snapped at him, "It's more than you could have done, given the circumstances!"

The three of them traveled quickly through the halls of the castle, staying a few feet behind their toad guide while at the same time trying to keep up with him, as the guide appeared to think he needed to run away from them. Bowser couldn't really blame him, Darklandian officials didn't exactly come here on friendly visits every month. The toad looked back behind him nervously, fighting an instinct to hide from them.

"R-right through those d-d-doors! Right up a-ahead!" He stuttered, terrified as they caught up to him. He flinched when Bowser stopped in front of him. "Y-y-ou w-won't be nee- ne-needing my a-assist-assistance, so I-I-I-I-I'll just-"

"Just _go_ already!" Bowser snapped more than a little aggravated by the constant stuttering.

If the toad had moved any faster he could have teleported.

Bowser suppressed a frustrated groan as he opened the door, and found a small room with another set of doors on the opposite side than the one he was coming through, and between him and those doors was the last pair of plumbers he wanted to see right now, especially when he remembered the humiliating aftershave affair. The two men looked his way and jumped back a step at his appearance.

"Stars Bowsah!" Mario exclaimed, "Why does-a everthing you wear-a have to have-a spike on it?"

"Don't cramp my style Plumber." He growled in response "If I ain't wear'n my spikes, I ain't me." His answer was definitive and clear, Mario shook his head but said nothing further.

Still, Bowser shifted in his long coat which was black, the collar lined his neck with spikes and belts around the arms stayed reminiscent of his usual arm bands. Other than a nice shirt and vest and whatever other crap he was layered in, Kammy's magically made wardrobe differed little from Kamek's casual clothes from the day before, with black pants, belts and boots, all of which had enough spikes to make him look like he was part of a bike gang, yet it was simple and profession enough that he wouldn't appear too out of place in the royal court.

There was a tall mirror which he caught his reflection in once more and turned away from it self consciously, silently wondering how Peach would feel about his appearance. "When does this thing start?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Oh-a it already has-a." Luigi answered, "But they-a wouldn't let us in-a."

Bowser's eyes widened momentarily before they darkened and narrowed angrily, "What do you _mean_ it's already started? What didn't you tell me!" He roared. Instead of waiting for an answer he pushed passed them, knocking Mario in to the wall as he did, shoved the door to the meeting hall open and stepped through.

–

Bowser was late.

From her seat at the top level of the room, Peach glanced around at the representatives for each of the kingdoms gathered for the meeting, some members of royal families had attend, but mostly there were public figure heads. Many of the attendants Peach knew by face only from meetings such as this one, but a few of them she knew a bit more personally, and she tried to focus on their faces rather than the empty seat across from her where Daisy usually sat.

One of the faces she knew belonged to Prince Haru of the Flower Kingdom, while she occasionally glanced in his direction she never let her gaze hold on him for very long. Prince Haru was one of the suitors her parents had arranged for her, and Peach didn't want to give Haru, who had deep feelings for her, any wrong ideas. On one such occasion she glanced his way she saw he was looking as her already and Peach turned her face away, looking instead at the seat that Bowser was supposed to be occupying, reminding her once again that he was late.

The room had gone silent some time ago and the group contemplated the appearance of a witch that had attempted to kidnap her and successfully made of with Daisy and the Koopalings. Under normal circumstances, her father had said, they would as for the help of the Mario Brothers, but as this witch had taken not only a daughter of Sassaraland, but also the heirs to the Dark Lands, it had become a matter of global concern as they had no idea if the witch would come back again and take other royal children.

Peach started to daydream about what might be happening to Daisy, and what would be happening to her if she had not been rescued. She didn't imagine that the witch would be treating her half as nicely as the Koopa King did. The princess became so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't even notice when voices began to debate about the problem, and remained unaware until she heard Bowser's name used.

"It's not too early to suspect he might be involved." A large round male representative from a northern kingdom said. Something about him had a careless demeanor, like he really wasn't too concerned about the meeting at hand.

"Why would he kidnap his own children?" A southerner asked she brushed her hair back casually, as if she too were uninterested in what was really going on.

"It could be a rouse." The northerner suggested, "Drive attention away from himself so that no one suspects him. For all we know his little Koopachicks could be safe at home in their nests. " Mummers of agreement flowed around the room.

Peach bristled at the disrespect being offered to the Darklands, "Koopalings." She corrected, "They're called the Koopalings, and Bowser was definitely not involved in their kidnapping."

The man stroked his fat chin contemplatively, "And what makes you so sure?"

"I was there." Peach explained, "I saw the look on his face when he saw that his kids were in danger, and I saw how determined he was to get them back."

"Then maybe he's just a good actor." The woman from the south said nonchalantly twirling her finger through her hair, obviously having changed her mind about the nobility of the Koopa King. "How else do you explain his failure to show up or send a representative?"

In all honesty Peach though maybe Bowser had been too embarrassed to show up in his human form and changed his mind about attending personally, but she didn't have an answer for Bowser not sending Kammy or Kamek. Peach sat where she was with her mouth opening in closing as she search for an answer, looking nervously to her parents for help. King Toadstool was the opposite of his daughter and wife. While neither Peach nor her mother held any sort of grudge against Bowser for his many kidnappings, Peach's father saw this as just another reason to not like the Darklandian king, and simply scowled at the spot where Bowser should have been. Her mother on the other hand, offered her a small smile and nodded, encouraging her to answer. Peach looked back toward the gathered kingdoms, her heart pounded lightly, but she found the courage to open her mouth and stand up for Bowser and his land.

However the moment her voice escaped her throat, it was hushed under the sound of the door on the ground opening and a frustrated grunt.

"Excuse my tardiness, people of the kingdoms," Bowser said as he entered, Kammy and Kamek in tow. Peach let out a huge sigh of relief at his sudden appearance. Behind him the door remained open slightly, and Peach could see Mario and Luigi peek in.

The King of the Darklands glanced around. He wasn't completely clean shaven, Peach noticed, he had left a scruff of hair on his chin and the side of his face, possibly left intentionally to make him look menacing or because he got tired of fighting with the razor blade as the small scars on his chin implied he had. His eyes landing on her and offering a wink before turning his attention to her father, "For the record I blame the lack of a proper guide or map to this place, all the halls in this castle all sort of look alike, and your staff is full of wusses, it took forever to catch one."

Peach leaned back in her chair flushing with embarrassment, with that attitude Bowser was likely to start a war right here.

To Peach's surprise however, her father remained stone faced, "You must be the Darklandian representative, I assume?"

Bowser nodded, "I'm here on behave of my people, so would you care to catch me up on what I've missed."

Peach sighed, the meeting had been called an hour ago and they had hardly done more than explain the situation to the allied kingdoms, offer up a few meager ideas, and point fingers at Bowser. Thankfully with his kingdom now represented no one had the nerve to openly accuse the Darklands directly. Bowser listened to the sum up, he looked bored, and rolled his eyes slightly in Peach's direction, the red orbs lit a bit the way they always did when he saw her.

However once he was caught up, Bowser looked annoyed even with his eyes on Peach. "Are you telling me that even though I was late, I missed absolutely _nothing_?" The room stayed as silent as they would if Bowser had indeed heard what they'd been previously saying about him. "How does this kingdom function when you can't do anything..." Bowser muttered.

"What I'd like to know," The southerner said, "Is how the Darklands don't collapse when their king can't even get a representative to a kingdom meeting on time."

Bowser opened his mouth to defend himself when another woman from a kingdom to the north, but not as north as the fat man from before said, "Especially when his free time is spent kidnapping princesses and making plans that never work."

Again Bowser prepared to reply, but was cut off by another kingdom talking smack about the Darklands and their King. Bowser visibly steamed, and Peach worried that he would explode any second, behind him Kammy and Kamek griped their wands angrily. How did these people dare speak like this to him to his face, didn't they know who he was?

Then it dawned on Peach. She hadn't told them about what had happened to Bowser after his attempted rescue, she'd felt that was something for him to tell. They _didn't_ know who he was! The Bowser Koopa they all knew was a giant fire breathing koopa, the man in front of them was just a man. They didn't know they were talking to Bowser Koopa in the flesh.

With this realization Peach almost burst out laughing, and had to quickly cover her mouth. Bowser glanced in her direction, catching her trying to hold in her laughter. The moment their eyes met, Bowser's eyes lit up with the same realization, and he couldn't hold back his laugh.

"I'm afraid we've missed the joke," King Toadstool said as soon as his voice was audible of the other man's laugh, "Mr...Ahh..." Oh stars, even her father didn't know, no wonder he had been so forgiving!

Peach couldn't hold back a snicker this time, her mother glanced in her direction but King Toadstool's attention remained on the Darklandian representative, waiting for an answer.

Bowser was still laughing and by now even his two Magikoopa had come to the same conclusion about the people's ignorance and joined their king with identical cackles. At last Bowser was able to calm himself enough to wipe an amused tear out of his eye. "I take it Peach didn't tell you what happened after she was rescued? That was very thoughtful of you, Peachie, but I think it would have spared a whole lot more embarrassment if you'd told them." he winked at her again.

Peach smiled down at him, "Sorry, I thought you'd prefer to tell them yourself."

"Tell us what?" The question came from several voices across the room, but most notably from the Mushroom King.

Bowser looked up at him with his lips curved into a cocky grin that was familiar to Peach even in this form, "After _I_ rescued your daughter the witch blasted me with a spell that knocked me unconscious, which by the way was the reason I couldn't save anyone else," He added as a side note looked around the room again like he knew they were all thinking it was suspicious that Bowser hadn't saved anyone else, "That spell also did this to me..." he said motioning to his whole body with a swoop of his hand.

The temperature in the room almost seemed to drop, and Peach could literally feel tensions in the crowd rising. Her father stood immediately "You _are_ Bowser?" He exclaimed, "The witch turned you human!"

From the glare her father beamed down at Bowser, Peach suddenly wondered if it had really been a good idea for Bowser to reveal himself. She looked around at the representatives, most of them sharing her father's glare down and the Koopa King. Others, including the southerner and northerner who had pointed fingers at Bowser before his arrival, had turned pale and seemed to be trying to calculate their chances at bolting to the door before he caught them. Gasps and whispers fluttered unintelligibly around and more than a few people looked at Peach for confirmation on this fact.

Her own mother looked up, "Is this true?" she asked.

Peach could only nod.

Bowser's grin never faded, "So any more questions about my capability as a leader?" He asked, his red eyes flashing around the room. The kings queens and advisers all remained silent and Bowser's smirk grew wider, "If that's the case then I move we open the floor to _useful_ discussions." he glanced over his shoulder, "Kamek, did you look into the Registered Magic Users Association like I told you too?"

Kamek flew forward on his broom so that he would be better seen and heard by the group. _"Indeed I did Sire." _Kamek said in his usual screech. At least to Peach it was usual, around the room people jumped slightly and covered their ears, _"I went through all registered magic users in the Darklands records, no user from our kingdom matching the suspect was found. So we can conclude that the witch who is responsible for the kidnapping and attempted kidnapping of royal children is either not from the Darklands, or an illegal magic user, in that case by law if caught is sentenced to a punishment of equal value to her crime, in this case…death."_

Representatives looked around some of them still flinching from the sound of Kamek's voice, "What was _that_?" Someone asked.

_"I said…" _Kamek repeated himself, Bowser rolled his eyes, and Peach resisted the urge to do it to so as well. Kamek's voice wasn't _that_ annoying, and his words brought up good evidence to take eyes away from the Darklands, but everyone looked as if Kamek were speaking a foreign language.

_Because he is, duh!_ A small voice in her head told her. Kamek was speaking in Darklandian, Bowser, Kammy, and Peach understood him because they also spoke Darklandian, but no one else in the room did. No matter how many times Kamek repeated himself he'd never be understood.

"-He's saying that the witch has been confirmed by their records to either not be from their lands, or an illegal magic user." Peach translated, a few surprised glances were shot her way, "And by their laws if they catch her she can receive the death penalty for her crime."

"How in the world could you understand that?" Prince Haru asked uncovering his ears.

"Peachie picked up on our language pretty quickly during her visits." Bowser explained for her, and glared at Kamek, "And use English you ding-bat!"

"No please," Someone said, "Someone just translate, I don't know if I could handle that voice in the common tongue."

_"Hear that Kamek? They think you sound like nails on a chalkboard too." _Kammy cackled.

_"Silence, at least my chalkboard is outside, yours is in an empty room where it echoes." _Kamek retorted.

"Burn." Bowser chuckled.

"Translation?" People looked at Peach as the two Magikoopa continued to sling humiliating insults back and forth.

"I'd rather not." She said shaking her head, "It's personal between them."

"That's enough you two, either break it up or get a room." Bowser ordered, "The world doesn't need to hear every detail of your torrid love affair." The Magikoopa immediately went into a stunned silence, "That's better, now where were we?"

Between Kammy and Kamek's argument and the need for translation, nobody had really had the chance to think much about the information Kamek had brought forth, so a motion was set to discuss. "What good does that do us?" King Toadstool asked, "If you couldn't locate her then why bring it up?"

"First of all," Bowser said, "to clear my name since obviously my past actions do lead to a certain image, secondly, because it narrows down possible motives. If the bitch- I mean uh, _witch_ shows up with intentions to kidnap any one else kids I suspect we all know it means she wants to ransom them off for some piece of dirt to rule o the whole damn-er darn world." Bowser coughed as if that could excuse his language in front of the court.

"However," He continued, "If she doesn't, I think it mean that only Daisy and Peach mean anything to her plans, I suspect my kids were taken as a means of distraction."

"What leads you to this conclusion?" Peach's father asked.

"My kids are annoying brats and I'm spiteful and vindictive, anyone who thinks they can just pick up my kids and walk away with them has to be insane." He paused for effect, looking around the room, "Unless they meant to use my kids as a means of keeping me busy."

"That's absurd!" Prince Haru said, "What's so important about Daisy and Peach as compared to the rest of the royal children of the world?" Haru looked in Peach's direction, "No offense."

Peach shook her head at him, to tell him she wasn't offended? Or warn him to keep his feelings for her out of Bowser's attention?

Bowser was starting to look bored, "Beat the heck out of me, if she'd just taken Peach I woulda said she'd done it to piss me off, but I have no interest in Daisy so she's got _something_ planned." Peach's father glared down at him, Bowser shrugged at him "Hey, I may a criminal mastermind, but there's only so much I can assume about another Black Magic user's intentions before I'm just guessing."

"Again this hardly brings us anything 'useful' to go on." The Mushroom King said with an almost loathing growl in his voice.

"I have to disagree, father." Peach said looking between the kings and sensing the tension rising, "Bowser has brought us more information and been more help than anyone here combined. Thanks to the research he had Kamek do, we know that the Darklands are not responsible for the kidnappings, and whoever behind this is an unregistered, possibly illegal magic user. And we know that whatever Zetha, or whatever her name was, could have a specific reason why Daisy and I were kidnapped, but no one else from this part of the world." Peach looked down at Bowser biting her lip, something else he had said a moment ago had caught her attention. "And you specified that she's some sort of black mage, right?"

Bowser nodded, "That's correct."

"How can you tell?" the southern woman twirling her hair asked.

Kamek opened his mouth to answer, but Bowser raised a hand to silence him. "Believe it or not, there is a difference between magic that's used for evil, and Black Magic." He motioned to himself, "No amount of regular magic would be able to do this to me, but transfiguration in a common enough spell used in Black Magic... Isn't quite as easy to fix though." He added with a grimace.

_"Zehtah, I believe the witch's name was,"_ Kamek said, _"is a rather skilled Black mage, possibly training herself secretly for decades, and that would make her dangerous, even if she weren't trying to take over the world or any such thing. Black Magic is unstable and uncontrollable if not trained to use it properly, she could destroy herself, and everyone around her."_

Peach translated again, and noticed Bowser wore a strange, almost guilty, look on his face for a brief moment when Kamek mentioned the part about not being trained properly. As soon as Peach finished translating what the Magikoopa had said. Bowser looked up, his usual confident demeanor back.

"The beauty of her being a Black Magic user is that Black Magic can be easily traced, so I propose that I take my advisers here back to the Darklands and start tracking down any unusual Black Magic activity, when we locate Xheta or whatever her name is, I'll send an armada of my finest ships to go get them back."

"You absolutely will not!" Daisy's father protested, "If you do that, the witch will see you coming from miles away and just take Daisy somewhere else!"

"Did you miss the part where I said I have no interest in Daisy?" Bowser growled, "At the first sign of my ships, the witch will have to surrender my kids, if she surrenders yours as well, fine whatever, but if she doesn't you can send the plumbers to get her, they're pretty good at rescuing princesses."

"This is a matter of global concern; it is not you place to make every decision." King Toadstool said sternly.

"Excuse me, but at last count they only had one of your royal children, and eight of mine, I think I have the right to decide how to best go about rescuing _my_ kids." Bowser snarled, "Besides what have you done- what have you _ever_ done- to save your children from kidnappings? I only came here because I thought that we could make some real progress about this issue here, but so far all I see is a bunch of kingdoms sitting on their hands wondering who will rescue their kids for them."

"Big words from the creature that is responsible for most of the kidnappings." Prince Haru said as he stood from his seat. "We don't know what Zeta is capable of, how can you expect us to do anything when we know nothing about her."

Bowser laughed coldly at him, "You don't know what _I'm_ capable of, little man. I have personally wronged a lot of people in this room, and every single one of you has the right to give me a hard time about it, but most of you can't even find your tongue with me in the room! You all know me almost too well, but I wouldn't be able to call hardly any of you by the right name. Do you really think it matters too me how much I know about my enemies?"

_"And Lord Bowser is pretty skilled with Black Magic as well."_ Kammy added,_ "It's not like he'd be facing something he didn't know how to handle."_

Bowser kept talking before Peach could translate for Kammy, "The only reason I was unable to finish off the witch to begin with was because she caught me off guard, and I was unconscious for the next two days. Again, I thought something important could be done here, and that's why I stuck around, but what excuse to you lot have for sitting on you asses doing nothing?"

This was a disaster. Peach's father rose, "Fine! Go get your warships and leave, the rest of us will stay here and make a civilized plan!" He turned to her, "Peach I want you to go as well you don't need to be here."

"She's coming with me." Bowser said as if it were a fact, not a suggestion.

Peach opened her mouth to protest, but her father beat her to it, "No she isn't! She is staying here under extra guard and she is not leaving until this matter is resolved!"

That almost hurt Peach, and she opened her mouth again to protest, this time to her father for essentially ordering her to be a prisoner in the castle, but this time Bowser beat her to speaking, "Extra guards never stop me from kidnapping your daughter, do you really think they'll stop the witch if she tries to kidnap her again? Peach is safer with me where the witch won't know where to find her."

She wanted to protest, but she knew Bowser had a point. "I have to go with him." She said before her father could say anything further. "He's right, if I am essential to Zehtah's plot then she will come for me again, and Bowser will be able to protect me if she does."

"Out of the question!" King Toadstool exclaimed.

"And why not?" Bowser asked, "What's the problem here, you want her to be safe and she is safest with me, you know I would never let any harm come to her. I give my word."

Prince Haru stood again, brushing his blue hair out of his eyes "I think you've given us all your word before, and I think you've double crossed us each time. We have no reason to trust you! And frankly I don't like the way you keep looking at Peach!"

Bowser shrugged off the comment about his trust, "Well 'frankly' I don't like the way any of you keep looking at me, in human for or real form you look at me like I'm a monster. Ever think maybe that's why you get double cross, how can I let you trust me, when you won't even let me?" He stole a look back at Peach, "Besides its not like she can't keep her eyes off me either."

Okay, that was out of line, "It's polite to look at the person who is speaking when they are speaking Bowser." She told him, "I've had my eyes on you no more than I've had my eyes on anyone else."

"You keep saying that, honey." Bowser smirked Peach could only blush in response.

Behind him Mario and Luigi decided it was time for them to say something, welcome or not, and they pushed the door open further inviting themselves in front of the court. "Pardon us-a." Luigi called, "But we-a have a proposition-a!"

Bowser visibly rolled his eyes at them, but King Toadstool gave them permission to speak, "You are-a right in the fact-a that you have-a no reason-a to trust-a Bowsah, so trust us-a instead, si?" Mario said. Having been the heroes that rescued his daughter on many occasions, the Mushroom King gave them a respectful nod and listened for their suggestion, "Bowsah is right, Peach cannot-a stay here-a, she is indeed safah on the move-a with him." Bowser's eyes lit up and he opened his mouth to say something, probably a thinly veiled insult to the king about 'at last somebody with intelligence', but Mario cut him off, "However, we-a suggest that Bowsah, accompany us-a on a quest to save-a his children _and-a_ Daisy."

The suggestion made sense, and even sounded a bit fun to Peach. A regular rescue like the usual save-the-princess deal, but with Peach and Bowser both helping, the image of them working all together almost made Peach giggle. "I like that idea, seconded."

"No!" King Toadstool said, "Peach, listen I know I can trust the Marios, but I simply cannot trust Bowser after all he's do-" The king was silenced by a hand on his arm.

Queen Toadstool offered her husband a small smile before she stood all whispers in the room silences as she did. The queen was know around the globe for her benevolence and forgiveness, Peach had many idols in life, but her mother had always been the most influential. Everyone, including Bowser, looked expectantly up at her, waiting to hear what wisdom she had to offer in this situation. She looked at both Mario brothers as she at last spoke.

"Many times Bowser has attempted to gain control of this kingdom with kidnapping, extortion, blackmail, bargaining and other even more twisted schemes, but each time you brothers have found the power to thwart his evil plans and bring our daughter safely back. It is important to note that she is always brought home safe." She said gently looking at the Brother's as if they were her own family. She turned her eyes to Bowser, and while her eyes loss a bit of softness, they didn't look at Bowser accusingly as her husband's did, "However I think it's also important to note that when ever Bowser takes Peach he has never done anything to harm her, making it possible for the Marios to return her safely. You say you swear no harm will come to Peach if she goes with you?" the Queen asked.

Bowser nodded, "I swear." He replied without a heartbeat's hesitation.

The queen turned to her king, "And if the situation were reversed, would you be able to swear that no harm would come to one of his children if left in your charge?" She asked.

The Mushroom King seemed flustered, and Bowser tensed at the thought, "I-I uh, well…After all he's done…" Peach's father couldn't answer her.

His wife turned away from him, back to the visiting king below. "It is not true that we have no reason to trust you, King Bowser. You have never allowed any harm to come to my daughter before, and so I know I can trust that you would not allow such a thing to happen now, or ever." She said with a note of finality, "But it is not my choice. The Council must vote on the proper course. I for one vote that Peach go with Bowser on and the Mario brothers on this quest to save Princess Daisy and the royal Koopalings. All in favor?"

Peach raised her hand, and so did Mario, Luigi, Kamek and Kammy. Bowser raised both his hands. The court looked at each other, the southern woman raised her hand and a few others shyly raised their hands as well. But in a court consisting of fifty royals and representatives; still only a total of fifteen had cast their vote in favor of Peach joining the quest.

"All in favor of Bowser and the Marios going on this quest and the Princess staying, under extra guard?" Prince Haru called forth as he raised his hand.

King Toadstool, the fat northerner and the rest of the court all raised their hands. Bowser audibly groaned, and Peach heard her mother heave a disappointed sigh. Peach herself felt as if she had just been given the death sentence for a crime she hadn't committed.

"It is decided." Queen Toadstool said, "Bowser, Mario Brothers, when will you begin your quest?"

Bowser glowered up at the king and turned away without answering the queen, angrily stomping out the door, Kammy and Kamek only feet behind him. Luigi looked after Bowser, but stayed where he was, while Mario answered, "I suppose-a tomorrow while we-a spend today narrowing down-a potential search-a areas." The older brother said, "We'll-a just take our leave-a" he added as he and Luigi backed toward the door.

The action decided, the court began to change to regular political issues such as trade agreements and border control, Peach felt her heart sink and excused herself to return to her room, saying she had a headache. Prince Haru offered to walk her, but she declined and went alone, not even letting Toadsworth join her once she left the council room.

Peach wandered back to her room and shut the door, leaning against it with a defeated sigh. Bowser, Mario and Luigi would be out on an adventure tomorrow, and she'd be stuck here, waiting to be kidnapped again. Why should they waste time with trying to rescue her on top of everyone else if she could join them and even help them with the rescue of Daisy and the Koopalings?

Peach looked up to her window which was open to let a cool breeze into the room. Her face hardened with determined resolve. She knew what she had to do.

Thoroughly lost in the Toadstool castle, and even having managed to lose Kammy and Kamek behind him somewhere, Bowser stopped in front of one of the many statues of King Toadstool and his wife. Insulted and beyond angry at the Mushroom King, Bowser gave frustrated growl and punched the statue of the king. His fist cracked against the stone painfully, but Bowser was able to ignore it in favor of the satisfaction that there had been enough strength in the blow that a few cracks appeared in the stature from where his fist was.

Something about those cracks brought a feeling of confidence back into Bowser after his ego had been wounded by the rejection of his idea to bring Peach along. This statue couldn't take his wrath, and neither could the Mushroom King himself! Immediately gears in his mind began to shift and twirl as Bowser started to plan. He heard Kamek and Kammy about two halls lengths behind him bickering over who was at fault for losing him, and the telltale sound of the Marios telling them they were both at fault which resulted in them being blamed.

Bowser shook his hand, figuring he'd probably broken it, but willing to hide it until nhe could get Kammy or Kamek alone to fix it. In the mean time he had work to do. He wouldn't let King Toadstool best him, Bowser was better than that.

**Author's note: **Oh Bowser you conniving devil. I bet you all know what he's thinking. Okay so there's chapter five I hope you enjoyed I'll be back as soon as I can with chapter six. BTW Prince Haru is not an OC, he was Peach's fiance in the Super Mario Anime movie Personally I think he's ugly.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: **Okay first off, I'd like to apologize for the wait, I think between the last time I updated this I've had two math tests and an English essay that I was working on. Second, thanks again for coming back, here's chapter six, hopefully I didn't bore you too much last chapter with the politics.

**Warning: **Language, for now, maybe some light violence.

**Disclaimer: **Mario and company do not belong to me Zehtah and Zehkah do however, if Nintendo come out with character like them I reserve the right to sue, ya'll will back me up right?

Never Look Back

Daisy didn't think she'd miss the Koopalings after they left, but after time in their company suddenly being alone was almost unbearable. The Koopalings had been hesitant to leave with their 'father'. Even Daisy knew that the large Koopa that had come down to the dungeon was not really Bowser, but unsure of what else to do they had reluctantly left.

It was so quiet that her own breath seemed to echo, and she missed listening to them argue, and even the girl talk with Wendy. The Princess kept herself occupied by trying to read the scribblings on the floor made by Bowser Junior with his escape plans, and Ludwig with his music.

Up the stairs, the door creaked open spilling an eerie pale purple light onto the ground. Footsteps descended quickly, and one of the sisters bounced into the room. Based simply on the bouncing Daisy guessed that this was Zehkah, the friendlier of the siblings, but there was literally no way to tell, they were perfectly identical. The young woman paused a moment glancing around with a confused look on her face. "Where did the kids go?" she asked, genuinely concerned about the apparent disappearance of the Koopalings.

"Their...father came to pick them up..." the princess hesitated to call the Bowser that had come their father, but what else could she say? "I think whatever your sister is doing; he's in on it..." A shutter went down her spine. If Bowser was involved in this wouldn't he have told his children instead of letting them think that they'd been truly kidnapped?

"Oh, now you're all alone down here, I'm so sorry!" Zehkah told her, "I'll talk to Zehtah and see if I can get you out. She won't tell me what she wants you for; just that she needs you and your Sister Heart."

"Sister Heart?" Zehtah had used that term earlier, but Daisy hadn't really thought much about it. "What does that mean?"

"The other girl Zehtah took, she told me she took you and your Sister Heart along with those little cuties." Zehkah giggled at the thought of the Koopalings. Daisy suppressed rolling her eyes; Zehkah wouldn't think they were so cute if she spent five minutes with them.

But something was wrong, "You mean Peach?" Zehkah nodded, "Well then Zehtah's made a mistake, Peach isn't my sister heart, we're just cousins."

All of a sudden Zehkah's eyes narrowed and her whole face hardened. Faster than Daisy could react the other woman raised her hand and slapped her across the cheek, "Do not speak ill of me child!" She roared, "I have been waiting for this for too long to have made a mistake, Peach is your Sister Heart if you are aware of it or not!"

Just as quickly, the harshness melted off her face and Zehkah grabbed Daisy's shoulders, blubbering apolitically, "I'm so sorry! Zehtah hates it when people tell her she's wrong, and she never learned how to control her temper..." She brushed Daisy's hair out of her face and offered a genuine sympathetic smile, "You're not hurt too badly are you?" She asked.

Daisy rubbed her cheek were she had been struck, but the pain was nothing compared to how confused she was. "I'm fine." She said, sounding weaker than she felt.

Zehkah turned around and wagged her finger at nothing, "Zehtah you should be ashamed of yourself! Apologize to her now."

The shift in her features happened again, and her face hardened angrily, "No. I don't need to apologize." She stood, and started to walk away, "And no matter how angry you are with me sister, you will thank me when this is over!"

The young woman's shoulders slumped in defeat, "But Zehtah, how can you be so sure when you won't even tell me what you're doing."

She stood straighter again, "It's a surprise, but you shall soon see my sister, soon you shall see."

Her shoulders dropped a second time and she turned back walking sadly to sit beside Daisy. "I'm sorry. She's so unreasonable sometimes. I'll go make you some tea; I'll try to convince her to at least let you out of this dungeon."

Daisy stayed silent for a moment, "Thank you." As Zehkah stood up to leave again, Daisy grabbed her skirt. "What is a Sister Heart?" She asked.

Zehkah pulled Daisy to stand beside her and placed her hand on her chest, "You Sister Heart is the most important person in your life that you are not romantically attached to." She explained, "Your closest friend, your sister of heart, not of blood…"

Daisy contemplated this for a moment. She and Peach both said on more than one occasion that they were like siblings, she nodded in understanding, but Zehtah continued as if in a dream.

"Some say that Sister Hearts are those who were, in previous lives, true sisters, but were separated in this life. Fate likes to do that you know, screw people over. Siblings are reborn into different families, friends reincarnated worlds apart...Lovers, true soul mates are separated by species, just for Fate's amusement..." She trailed off and shook her head. "There's only so much that can be done with Sister Hearts, I'll look into it for you, but Zehtah doesn't like me fiddling with her Black Magic stuff, so I might be a while. Okay?" She patted Daisy's shoulder; the Princess could only nod before Zehkah zipped up the stairs and out of sight.

Reflecting on what she had been told; Daisy could come up with only one conclusion about what she had just seen. Zehtah and Zehkah were also Sister Hearts, but unlike Peach and Daisy (if they truly were these Sister Hearts) the two of them had been reborn as the same person…

–

Prince Haru rapped on the door to Peach's room, "Princess?" He called gentle, "Are you still feeling ill? I thought perhaps we could take a walk, or break our fasts together…"

There was no response. He knocked and called again, and finally assumed he had already missed the Princess and headed down to the dinning hall for breakfast. Nobles and representatives who where more than a few hours travel from their own Kingdoms had been invited to stay the evening, and while Prince Haru could leave anytime, he had chosen to stay, in hopes to court Peach more.

The Mushroom King thought they'd be a good match, and already was in talks with Haru's father the Flower King about arranging a marriage, but Haru wanted more than that. He loved Peach, and wanted her to love him back, and was willing to do anything short of kidnap her to prove it.

At least he said so. Haru knew deep down that if Peach was ever kidnapped while she was his Queen, he wouldn't be brave enough to rescue her from Bowser himself…

But at least if she ever grew to love him back Haru could live in a fantasy that they didn't need to worry about Bowser.

He entered the dinning hall, no sign of the Princess. Perhaps she was else where, taking care of a few official things. The Flower Prince decided he would not eat until he knew where she was. He approached the King and Queen of the Mushroom Kingdom, politely asking if they knew their daughter's whereabouts.

"No." The Queen said picking up a slice of a delicious smelling mushroom, "Normally she would have been down here by now, but she was feeling kind of under the weather after the meeting…" She glanced at her husband with an annoyed look that made the King shrink in his seat, obviously their disagreement over the correct course of action had left the council room. "Have you tried her rooms?"

"I did, but she did not answer."

"Perhaps the gardens then, Peach loves taking a morning stroll through the garden." The King suggested his voice at first small, but growing stronger as he spoke.

"I'll check, thank you your highnesses." Haru gave them a quick bow of his head in respect and walked a little swifter than necessary toward the gardens.

No sign of her there either.

Servants suggested he look in the library, the dinning hall again, and one even suggested that perhaps she had snuck out to wish her friends the plumbers luck on their new quest. Haru didn't see Peach anywhere, but doubted Peach would be so bold as to violate her father's arrangement to keep her hidden here and visit her friends.

Perhaps she had just slept through his wake up call…

Visibly worried and running through the castle, Haru stole up the flight of stairs to Peach's rooms for the second time, he didn't even notice that he rushed passed and almost knocked over the Queen as she exited the dinning hall with her husband, still arguing slightly.

"Peach!" He cried banging loudly on the beautifully carved wooden door, "Peach, please if you're in there answer me!"

There was still no answer, and banged harder, only stopping when someone caught his wrist. Haru turned around to see the King and Queen behind him exchanging worried looks to between. "She…she…no one has seen her…" Haru tried to explain around how breathless he was.

King Toadstool nodded and motioned for Haru to step aside. The Prince thought he would knock on the door as he had, but instead the king braced himself and rammed the door full on, breaking it down, "Peach!" He cried looking in for his daughter.

Inside, there was only an empty bed and an open window…

Mario awoke the next morning to the smell of cake. He opened his eyes groggily and lifted his head. Across the room Luigi was just waking up too. The brothers stared sleepily at each other, and sniffed the air savoring the sweet smell of fresh baked cake, when it suddenly occurred to them that there was no reason that they should be smelling cake.

Alarmed the two plumbers got dressed quickly and quietly. They tip-toed down the stairs, when they heard voices coming from their kitchen, they cast nervous glances at each other. Their alarm subsided momentarily at the sound of Peach's familiar giggle, only to be replaced with confusion. Wasn't Peach basically grounded or something?

They entered the kitchen and lo and behold, Peach was indeed there, pulling a fresh breakfast cake out of the oven, Bowser sat at the table picking at a bowl which, from the contents, must have had strawberries in it at some point. Kamek and Kammy were across the room bickering quietly in the corner, like scolded children sent there to think about what they'd done.

Peach rose from the oven and turned around, seeing them she flashed a bright smile. "Good Morning!" She piped.

Bowser turned around to see them, he'd been smiling a moment ago, but as soon as he saw them his face dropped to a scowl and he turned away mumbling "It _was_."

"Oh, don't be like that Bowser." Peach teased as she set the cake down to cool and turned the oven off.

Mario and Luigi nodded and replied with their own morning greetings and sitting down, "Princess…" Luigi finally asked, "What-a are you-a doing here-a?"

Peach wasn't fast enough to answer before Bowser did, "As I said yesterday, she's coming with us."

"But-a King Toadstool said-a-" Luigi started confused, but Mario cut him off.

"-You-a _kidnapped _her?" Mario realized grabbing his hat worriedly, like he thought it would jump off his head to go tattle on them, "Mama Mia! Why would you-a do that?"

Bowser rolled his red eyes at them, "I had no choice…" He flicked the bowl in front of him casually, "They just wouldn't listen to reason." There was a hint of spite in his voice.

"Besides," Peach added as she approached them, play slapping Bowser as she passed "It's _hardly_ kidnapping when I left my door and window open for him."

"Mama Mia…You-a _let _him take you-a?" Mario groaned.

"No amount of security can stop a determined felon from kidnapping Peach." Bowser said, "Proof: I just did."

"Again; because I wanted you to." Peach pointed out.

The Koopa King laughed, "Now that's something you don't hear every day. Princess Peach _wanted_ me to kidnap her!" Even Peach had to giggle when she realized what she'd said. "Yeah, she really made it easy too; I was in and out in under an hour. Not exactly a record for me, but still given the circumstances I expected to be out all night."

"And if you hadn't come I had a bed sheet rope made to escape out the window." Peach added as she continued to laugh. It probably wasn't near as funny as the two of them made it seem, but every time Peach heard Bowser laugh she found herself giggling too, which only got Bowser going harder.

Oh sweet Irony, she'd _wanted _Bowser to come kidnap her!

"Excuse-a me." Luigi said as soon as the two of them had calmed themselves, "But what-a if someone notices-a that you-a have vanished-a?"

"Then they can think that Bowser was right and Zehtah kidnapped me again." Peach said, fitting the pieces together like a puzzle. "It's not like they're going to catch you with me."

Mario caught a glimpse of movement outside the window, "Uh-oh, they-a might!" He said pointing a finger outside to where a several noble looking men on horses were riding up the road to their house.

Peach gasped in surprise and then groaned when she saw Prince Haru at the front. Bowser beckoned Kamek and Kammy over to him and the three whispered urgently amongst themselves as Bowser stood. He turned to the Mario brothers, "How far to the nearest Warp Pipe?" he asked.

"Not-a that far-a..." Mario replied, "If we-a run we-a might be-a out of sight-a when they-a reach the house-a."

"Not likely." Peach said backing away from the window, hoping she hadn't been seen already.

Bowser's mouth twitched, "That's what I thought, hold on!" He grabbed Peach suddenly, behind him Kamek and Kammy grabbed one of the Mario bros each.

Peach was about to protest Bowser holding her so close to him when, without warning, he leapt into the air, holding her tight and making her gasp. Instead of descending they hovered for a moment before small purple lights danced around them. Peach wanted to ask what it was when suddenly all the air in her body seemed to be sucked from her leaving her breathless, and the world vanished around them. All she could see was a void of purple, the same color as the lights around them. She couldn't breathe! The Princess closed her eyes clung tighter to Bowser, wanting to scream, but having no air!

Then, just as suddenly as it had started, it was over.

Peach found her feet touching the floor, and air back in her lungs. She gasped several times taking many deep breaths as if she expected to be whisked away back into that airless place. Peach opened her eyes again, her vision was blurry for a moment but after blinking a few times she could see that they were no longer at the Mario house. She looked around cautiously. "Where…?"

Kammy, Kamek and the Mario bros appeared next to them in flashes of light, they'd just been teleported. The two Magikoopa were unfazed, but the Marios looked disoriented. The setting was familiar, but it wasn't until she saw a large statue of Bowser that she realized they were back at the same castle they'd been in several days go, when Zehtah had kidnapped her and Bowser's children.

Bowser patted her back, "Okay Princess, as much as I enjoy have you there, you can let go of me now." Peach was confused at first but then realized she hadn't let go of him yet. With a burst of movement she distanced herself from him, the act made her dizzy and she felt a sensation in her temple like the beginnings of a head ache, she massaged the area with her fingers. Bowser chuckled and called his two loyal Magikoopa over to him.

"Kamek take Peach somewhere she can lie down," He turned to her as he continued, "the effects of teleportation shouldn't last more than ten minutes, but if you still feel this way in half an hour, we need to be worried…As for Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb over there…"

He glanced back at the Marios who were attempting to walk, but sauntered around as if they'd had one too many drinks at a bar somewhere and constantly had to rebalance themselves to keep from tripping over nothing. "Well, to be honest I want you to take them down to the dungeon and hang them from their big toes while you shave their mustaches, but….whatever just put them in a corner somewhere they won't hurt themselves."

Maybe it was just the dizziness, but Peach thought that was sort of funny and giggled a bit, making Bowser grin.

"Kammy, I want you to round up all the Magikoopa in this castle- no- actually get every Magikoopa available within a ten mile radius in here and start a trace for any Black Magic use and investigate." Kammy nodded and vanished without a word. Bowser turned to Kamek again, "When you're done with them, join her, I'm going to the library."

Kamek seemed a bit alarmed, "But…Sire you haven't been in the Library since-"

Bowser raised a hand to silence him, "I know. But I can't exactly fight fire with more fire right now; it's time to fight Black Magic with Black Magic- Be sure to tell Kammy that it's me if you sense anything inside the castle." Bowser seemed to tense a moment, and Peach almost thought she saw a flicker of fear in his eyes, "I'll be careful, I swear."

Kamek seemed hesitant, but Bowser's eyes were filled with resolve, the same look he got in his true form whenever he had an idea that he knew would work. The Magikoopa nodded and turned away from him, to Peach, Mario and Luigi, "Come, this way, I'll show you to the guest rooms."

The brothers followed without hesitation, slowed only by their inability to walk in a straight line, but Peach had to turn back to Bowser for a moment. He'd already gone, but she stared at the spot he had been standing in a moment before. What terrible thing had happened in the Library that he hadn't gone back in since it happened?

**Author's End note: ** I'll end it there on a happy little cliff hanger. Now it's off to work on College stuff again. -Sigh- It never ends.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's note:** And here we are again, thank you once more for coming back. I think we may actually get to rescuing people this chapter...Who knows, it really depends on where I feel like stopping.

**Warning: **Language, maybe some violence. Mild sad-stuff, and I'm totally making up everything about Bowser's family based solely on what's said in his wiki.

**Disclaimer: **-insert creative disclaimer-

Never Look Back

Peach studied the painting in front of her for a few minutes before stepping to the side to look at the next one over. As Bowser had said, the dizziness she'd felt had gone away in mere minutes, same with Mario and Luigi. The brothers, having been teleported away without breakfast, had left a little while ago to see if they could find a kitchen or something, and Kamek before them, left to do as Bowser had commanded and help Kammy trace Black Magic use.

After the Marios had left, Peach wandered the castle. She'd never been to this castle before, Bowser's kingdom had hundreds of castles which the Koopa king used in his plans, but this appeared to be the main castle that Bowser actually ruled from. Peach followed a hallway passed several large doors, and eventually found herself in this hall which was lined wall to wall with paintings. It hadn't taken the princess long to figure out that the painting were a record of the royal Koopa family.

Bowser's family.

Peach was surprised at how many there were, some portraits dated back longer than the Mushroom Kingdom had existed, and big family portraits of entire generations rarely had less than five royal children. Big families must have been a tradition to the Koopas. She searched along the line of paintings, looking at the faces, and searched for one in particular. At last, close to the end of the hall, Peach found a portrait which depicted Bowser as a child. She could tell because of how he looked exactly like his own son Bowser Jr.

The portrait was another family picture, but this one stood out for two reasons. One, there were only four children, Bowser included, and one of them, a young female, was scratched out of the painting entirely. Peach blinked in confusion, why was one of Bowser's siblings scratched out of this painting? She turned her attention to the next paintings, each one depicting the family of Bowser's youth. Form the paintings, it seemed Bower had a brother, and two sisters, but as she moved along them, and Bowser grew older, his brother vanished from the paintings, as did one of his sisters. the other was still there , but scratched out. Some paintings had been removed entirely, as she could tell from the empty spaces between them.

"Morton, Ophelia and Tamora."

Peach jumped at the sound of Kamek's voice. The Magikoopa was on his broom, so of course she wouldn't have heard him coming, but she should have at least been paying enough attention to see him approach.

"What?" She asked.

Kamek scooted his broom over to the family painting, and pointed to each of Bowser's sibling. "Morton was His Grouchiness's older brother. Morton is a variation Morthophelus, their father, but Morton Jr, King Bowser's son is named after his brother." Peach could see why, the two had the same build, and coloring, though Bowser's brother was taller, and had thick black hair, some of which was falling over his left eye. "Morton was the crowned Prince; he was supposed to take the crown when King Morthophelus passed it down."

This surprised Peach, "What happened? Why is Bowser King, if Morton was supposed to get the crown?"

Kamek replied with a voice as stoic as his face, "Prince Morton died not long after this painting was finished." He explained, "The Queen too. It was a terrible pestilence; I lost my two sons to it."

"Oh...I'm sorry." Peach looked back to the painting, and pointed to the smaller of the two Princesses, the one not scratched out "Who is she?" The princess was small, with a round face, a sign of youth among the Koopas, with big eyes, and tuffs of curly pale blonde hair.

"Princess Ophelia. Bowser's baby sister. They were pretty close when they were young. I had to chase them through these castles all the time, trying to get them to their classes..." He smiled lightly at the memory. "But then Bowser took her into the library, to show her his new hiding spot, and she stayed there...they didn't talk for almost five years before she died."

Another sibling dead; "The pestilence?" Peach asked.

"No. A blister on the brain." Kamek shook his head, "Bowser always blamed it on her reading too much, but actually it was a flaw she had from the day she hatched, it just finally grew to big for her to live with...Wendy's full name is Wendy Ophelia Koopa." He added, matter-of-factly.

"Hmmm..." Peach reached out and brushed the scratches over the face of Bowser's other sister. Was she dead too, and if so why was she the only one scratched out?

As if reading her mind Kamek floated closer and explained, "Princess Tamora is still alive...As far as we know at least. King Morthophelus disowned her several years before Bowser took the crown, she eloped with a servant." He shook his head, in shame? In sadness?

"She eloped with a servant? That doesn't warrant a disowning in my Kingdom." Peach muttered with mild confusion. Her own uncle had declined the thrown so that he could marry one of the young maids in the castle. Her grandparents had been a bit disappointed, but had been happy for him at the wedding. Perhaps Koopas were just that much harsher than humans...

"Y-yes of course." Kamek stuttered, realizing that he hadn't been clear. "Let me rephrase that. Tamora eloped with a _female _servant."

That shocked Peach, just as it probably had shocked King Morthophelus. His oldest daughter had fallen in love with someone of her own gender. Peach blushed at the thought. Her own views on sexuality remained that if someone were in love that they should be free to love as they pleased, but she understood from a ruler's point of view that homosexuality was looked down on in royal families.

"Did King Morthophelus do this?" She asked pointing to the scratches.

"Yes." Kamek answered.

"And did he take down these paintings?" She inquired glancing to the empty spaces on the wall.

"Actually Bowser did." Kamek nodded, a gesture Peach couldn't interpret, "He sent them off to be restored, Princess Tamora is on her way back into the Royal halls."

"Were Bowser and Tamora close?" she asked.

"Not particularly."

"Then why is he having her paintings restored?"

Kamek remained silent. He didn't have an answer to this question.

"Kamek!" Bowser barked, startling them both. He stood only a few feet from them, at the corner of the hall. How long had he been standing there?

"Sire!" Kamek straightened on his broom, fearful he had crossed a line talking about his king's siblings.

Bowser took a few steps toward them, his eyes looked sad, probably from over hearing the tragedy of his lost family retold, but he didn't appear angry at Kamek for it. "Didn't I tell you to go help Kammy?"

"Yessir. I was just on my way!" Instead of waiting for further command (Or, more likely, _reprimand_), Kamek simply teleported away to do his King's bidding. Silence fell with Kamek's disappearance. Bowser looked at the portrait of his family. His red eyes softened with longing. Did he want his old body back, or his siblings?

"Bowser-" Peach started.

But he cut her off, "-Sis used to send me letters." He said, glancing sideways at her, "After she eloped with the servant. They used to send me letters, every year on my birthday I had a letter from my sister telling me how much she missed her kid brother...And how happy she was to be with her wife...She always said that I should try to marry for love, instead of obligation. Because love is the best thing anyone can have..." He turned away from her suddenly, his voice cracked when he spoke again, "You should go back to the guest rooms, I don't need you getting lost too..."

"I'm sorry." Peach offered, unsure of anything else to say, she stepped forward.

"Don't be." Bowser said, trying to sound tough but a slight tremble in his stance gave away that he wasn't as cool with the whole thing as he pretended to be.

Peach reached to touch his arm; she wanted to say something to make him feel better. Bowser was her father's enemy, but Peach wanted to end the conflict between their kingdoms. She didn't love him, as he loved her, but she hoped one day they could be friends. Her hand froze inches from Bowser's skin however. She happened to glance over to the painting next to them; this one was of the five oldest Koopalinsg. The others hadn't been born (hatched?) yet, the others featured in the painting were Kammy and Kamek, with Bowser and a female Koopa that Peach didn't recognize.

"Who's that?" She couldn't help but ask as she stared at the painting. The Koopa in question had blond hair that reached her shoulders, with bright blue eyes, and a bored expression. Next to her, Bowser had an expression like he wanted to be as far away from her as possible.

The human-Koopa turned around questioningly, not knowing how she was talking about. His eyes settled on the same picture, and there was a visible shift in his demeanor when he bitterly answered "Clawdia." Peach waited for further explanation, but Bowser said no more until she asked. "My ex-wife; their mother." He waved his hands to the paintings of the Koopalings, his eyes were narrowed in a look of hatred he usually reserved for a certain plumber.

Peach didn't want to pry too much, but curiosity was overcoming her, "What happened to her? Is she dead?"

"I hope so." Bowser said casually surprising Peach with his brutality, "She was a terrible queen, wife and mother." He explained seeing Peach's mouth drop. "Clawdia and I were arranged to be married since we were kids, and we _hated_ each other growing up. Most of our lives were spent trying to find a way to weasel out of marrying each other, but…" He shrugged; obviously they had both failed that endeavor. "Clawdia was the youngest daughter of a wealthy duke, even more spoiled than I was."

"She had no idea how to rule and so most of my time was spent trying to clean up her messes, and then when Ludwig hatched she didn't take care of him, or any of the other kids, Kammy and Kamek ended up raising them more that we did. I mean I_ tried_ to be there for them, but because of Clawdia accidentally starting civil wars I was always busy when they were young. Clawdia never tried to get along with them at all. Then, we had a huge fight, and she took off, no one's heard from her since. Probably dead in an alley way some where in the bad parts of the kingdom because she didn't know how to take care of herself. Good riddance." Anger laced all his words, and Peach knew he wasn't exaggerating that he hated his ex-wife. It was almost scary to see him holding such a grudge against the mother of his children.

"I…" Peach wanted to apologize to him, but she had no reason to say sorry, and that would probably just make him mad at her anyway, so instead she stayed silent, looking at the picture. Huh, now that she'd heard the story, the expressions on Clawdia and Bowser's faces did show a certain degree of disdain for one another.

"You should go back to the guest rooms now; do you need me to take you?" Bowser said suddenly. He voice was still harsh, but it had softened slightly.

"Hmm...?" Peach was about to say no, but she realized she had no idea how to get back from where they were and so only nodded.

Bowser offered her his arm, Peach hesitated a moment before taking it. She didn't want to display any form of intimacy with him, that would get him excited, but she didn't want o be rude either, so she accepted his arm but didn't say anything. Bowser didn't have anything to say either, and their walk was surprisingly quiet, though Peach could tell he was resisting the urge to give her a 'grand tour' telling her every detail about this castle's history.

They didn't make it back to the guest rooms before Kammy showed up with news, "We've traced so unauthorized Black Magic use." She said, glaring slightly at Peach with her eyes locked on their intertwined arms.

"Where?" Bowser said, not bothering to let go of Peach despite the Magikoopa's clear disapproval.

"Right here in the castle! Can you believe her nerve!" Though Peach knew Kammy was referring to the witch about performing her Black arts in the halls, she couldn't help but feel that this was also directed at her for holding on to Bowser. She tried to slip her arm out of Bowser's but he held onto her a moment longer.

"Kammy." He said slightly annoyed, "I told you I would be practicing a few spells in the Library-"

"Yes of course Your Vileness, but unless you're casting a spelling right now, I assure you it isn't you we're tracing." Kammy replied.

Bowser's face shifted again into rage, "What?" He snarled, he looked ready to rip someone in half.

"Kammy! Sire!" Kamek popped up out of no where, he looked worried. He glanced at Kammy questioningly and received a nod before he proceeded. What, could they read each other's minds, what was that look about? "I went down to the dungeon that the Black Magic is manifesting in…You should get the Mario brothers and come see…"

Bowser rolled his eyes slightly at the idea of going to get the Mario brothers, but nodded to his henchmen, then looked back at Peach, "Are they still in the guestrooms, or did they decide to wander too?"

Peach shook her head, "We left before they had breakfast, they went to see if they could find the kitchen or something." Bowser, Kamek and Kammy got identical looks of surprise and cast a worried glance at each other before all three burst out laughing. "What's so funny?"

"S-sorry," Bowser said between chuckles, "It's just that, _nobody_ steals food from Kooki's kitchen. Even _I_ almost lost a finger once when I tried to take a grape from her dessert platter!"

"Seriously!" Kamek added, around his laughter "The whole finger was dangling from a thread!"

Peach raised an eyebrow. "And you didn't fire her?"

That got them laughing harder, "Oh I _did_!" Bowser replied, "But Kooki loves cooking so much she was back the next day and wouldn't leave. I had to rehire her!"

"Come on." Kammy said, "We should go rescue the Marios before they end up in the stew pot."

As they started laughing again, Peach frowned, trying hard not to join them because that was _sort_ of funny. "The stew pot…" Bowser chuckled, "I sort of like that better than hanging them in the dungeon"

Okay, that made Peach snicker quietly.

After rescuing Mario and Luigi (they weren't kidding about Kooki, she _was_ seriously about to cook them), Kammey and Kamek led them down though the castle toward the dungeons. Bowser told Peach that only the Magikoopa typically went down this far, experimenting with their magic, and using their brooms so there was a fine layer of dust on the stairs. The air got thick and hot, they were inside the volcano now, and only magic kept them from overheating. Despite the magic that was keeping her from being cooked alive, Peach was sweating in her dress, and her feet slowed, she found herself leaning on Bowser for support. He held her with one arm to keep her with him, and the princess was simply too hot and tired to object.

There was a doorway on the left up ahead which Kamek led them through. As soon as they crossed through, the temperature dropped rapidly, and while at first Peach was glad to be out of the smoldering hall, the lack of heat in this room went beyond a mere lowering of temperature. Their breath froze in the air, and Peach found herself huddled against Bowser for warmth now, not that he was much help, his body temperature was dropping almost as fast as the room's, his body shook with cold. Kammy and Kamek fared no better, and at last they couldn't handle the cold anymore and cast a few fire spells to warm the room. It helped, but only enough to make their shuttering slow; it was still freezing in there, now Peach greatly missed the hot hall.

"Th-there," Kamek pointed a head of them, "That's the…the source of the Black Magic…" He sneezed.

A head of them was a warp pipe, dark purple in color; nothing seemed particularly off about it. Peach rubbed her arms, trying to keep warm. Bowser stepped forward, "Where does this lead?" His teeth chattered as he spoke, faring worse in the cold than anyone else. Peach guessed it was probably because he was a creature of fire, he was meant for extreme heat, and this unnatural cold was pushing his limits.

"We don't know. This has never been here before, nor has it been so cold!" Kammy said sounding almost angry at the temperature.

"We think the witch may have sent it." Kamek added, "She want someone to go where ever it leads.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Bowser said, "Can't be any worse than this." He added in case anyone wanted to object to his idea to just follow it. He took peach's hand and led her forward to the pipe. Mario and Luigi ran after them passed them reaching the pipe first.

"We-a should test it-a first." Luigi said, "Before we-a let the Princess through-a."

Bowser didn't seem to want to argue and just waved at them to hurry. He was starting to shake again. Mario and Luigi took each other's hands for support and jumped into the warp pipe, vanishing from sight. Peach took Bowser's arm, she was shivering too, but not nearly as bad as he was, perhaps they could keep each other warm for a while, it was the least she could do for him since he let her lean on him in the hallway.

Momentarily, Mario and Luigi reappeared. "Come on!" They encouraged before jumping back through the pipe. Bowser pushed Peach forward, letting her go first. Peach wanted to object, he needed to get out of this cold sooner than she did but Bowser insisted, and probably would have picked her up and throw her in if she didn't go by herself. With a heavy sigh Peach jumped into the warp pipe, instantly her body temperature skyrocketed to normal, and for a moment she was weightless before she flew out the other end of the pipe and landed gently on her feet. Bowser followed a moment later, but when he landed he dropped to his knees momentarily, still shivering.

Peach helped him back to his feet, "Are you alright?" She asked, surprising herself with how genuine her concern was.

"I'm fine." Bowser shook her off him. "That cold was draining magic." He explained to no one in particular "Most of my magic reserves were just depleted, it'll probably be a full day before I can cast a decent spell." He looked around them, for the first time Peach did too.

They were on a plane, dark yellow grasses surrounded them on all sides. To the west there was a forest, and to the north a castle, behind them, far to the south was the volcano castle they had just left, visible at this distance, solely because of its size. "Where-a are we-a?" Luigi asked.

"The Northern part of the kingdom." Bowser said, nodding to the castle a head of them "When I was a kid, I lived there for a few years."

"Why were we sent here?" Peach mused aloud.

"In all likely hood because one of my kids is there." Bowser answered starting to head in that direction.

"What-a about Daisy? Could-a she be in there-a?" Luigi asked with hopeful eyes.

"First rule of being a villain:" Bowser said pointing a finger at an imaginary book in his hand, "Never put the Princess, or Maiden, or other various forms of Damsel-in-Distress in the first castle. We probably won't be seeing your princess for a while."

Luigi's shoulders drooped, but he shuffled along after Bowser, Mario and Peach trailed behind them. Peach stared up at the castle, it was far away, not as far away as the volcano, but still far. The castle was huge too, and which ever kid was in there could be anywhere in that castle too, they could be a while at this castle alone.

"What-a are you-a thinking-a Peach?" Mario asked her.

"Hm? Oh nothing…" The Princess replied, "Just that I'm probably going to regret wearing high heels…"

Oblivious to those coming below, in the castle Ludwig hit a button on his music player so that he could listen to the last song again. Papers were sprawled in front of him, most of them had music notes scribbled across them, some scratched out and rewritten so many times the paper was almost completely black with ink. He'd been working on this piece all week, and for the past three hours straight, so now he was taking what he thought was a well deserved break.

He stretched in his chair, and glanced out the widow of his room. He was already too late to see the visitors approaching, but his eyes were not on the ground, they gazed far passed the grasses and forests, toward the volcano. He wanted to go home.

"You can't go home yet." A voice at his door said.

Ludwig ignored his father and simple turned his music up. He knew the Koopa at his door wasn't really his father. As the oldest of his siblings, Ludwig liked to think he was more perceptive than his brothers or his sister, but he knew Bowser had taught all of them how to tell him apart from his doppelgangers. This Koopa wasn't his father, he was a damn near perfect replica, but Ludwig still knew it wasn't him.

What he didn't know was if the replica was telling him the truth.

When he had first came down the stairs at the witch's dungeon, the Koopaling had all been aware that the Bowser was a replica, but saved confronting it until they were out of the dungeon. The Fake Bowser told them that their father was in an alliance with the witch and had merely had them kidnapped to keep eyes off him when world leaders gathered to 'discuss the problem'. It seemed like a legitimate story, but certain details instilled doubt in the children.

First, if Bowser was really in league with the witch, he would have told them about it. It wasn't like their father to keep them in the dark about his plans, especially when they concerned his children. Second, why didn't he come pick them up himself instead of sending a duplicate? The fake Bowser said it was because the real Bowser was in the Mushroom Kingdom negotiating with other worldly leaders what they should do about this witch threat. Ludwig knew he wasn't the only one who could tell that much was bullshit. Bowser hated the other kingdoms, and if he had to go meet them, he would have sent the duplicate, and gone to pick up his kids himself.

The third thing Ludwig had doubts about was different though, he wasn't sure if he should count it, but he had seen his father's face when he tried to rescue them from the witch. He'd been surprised by the attack and even terrified for his children while they were being kidnapped. King Dad was known to be a pretty good actor when the mood suited him, but even he couldn't pull off the pure genuine fear in his eyes when they were kidnapped. If he had known, he wouldn't have been so scared…

Something didn't add up, but Ludwig simply didn't know enough to take action. He was smart though, he waited for any news from his father, his _real _father, and if he didn't hear anything from him in three more days, he had a plan.

With a sigh Ludwig turned his music off and got out a fresh piece of paper and began composing…

**Author's end note:** Whee!


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: **Actually this note is specifically for anonymous reviewer _MenouFire, _ who asked "When is the bowser & peach romance coming? so far it just feels like mild flirting if anything." It will be a while, if you recall in the first chapter's note I said it would be _eventual_ romance, they won't actually be a couple until closer to the end of the fic. In the meantime, there will be continuous 'mild flirting', build-up, UST (Unresolved Sexual Tension), and most importantly, the actual plot of the fic. I hope this answers your question.

**Warning:** The length of this chapter really depends on how much I feel like writing.**  
>Disclaimer: <strong>Nintendo owns all recognized names, if you don't recognize something, its probably mine.

Never Look Back

Oh yes, Peach definitely regretted wearing high heels. The closer they got to the castles the rougher to terrain got, and the Princess was forced to take them off, not only for her own comfort, but to be sure that the heels didn't break. Bowser offered to carry her, he too had taken his boots off sometime before, something about them making his toes feel cramped and had them tied together, slung over his shoulders, but Peach had declined, choosing instead to walk the rest of the way barefoot. The trip was almost as bad as it had been while she was wearing them, but once they got into the castle the ground was smooth and her feet protested less.

Bowser led them to a secret entrance out of sight of any guards that might be lurking about. "Nobody's lived in this castle for years, not legally anyway." He explained, "But a couple months back I received a letter from the mayor of the nearby town asking that this place be turned into some sort of tourist attraction."

"A town?" Luigi repeated.

Bowser nodded, "This castle was going to become a museum chronicling more history of the Kingdom than any others. Actually it was supposed to open in a month..."

The secret entrance was a forgotten window that led to a closet. Bowser went through first, checking to make sure the window was truly forgotten before helping Peach down. The Princess slipped through the opening easily enough, except for a small snag on her skirt from a splinter or a loose nail or something. They all heard the small tear, made worse by Bowser pulling her down faster in surprise.

"Are you okay?" He asked with genuine worry.

Peach nodded in the dark, "I'm not hurt if that's what you mean..." She answered, she felt the back of her dress, and grimaced when she felt the rip, it was just in the top layer so her panties weren't showing, but it was still embarrassing, especially when Bowser opened the closet door and light from the hall spilled into the room from several lit torches. "Say Bowser do you know if that town you mentioned sells pink dresses anywhere?"

Luigi climbed through behind her, followed by Mario, the Princess wished they had waited a few more seconds to enter because Bowser answered by wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close, "I _doubt_ they have dresses, but I'm sure we can find you something to cover your pretty skin."

He leaned closer to her face, a moment before it was too late, Peach realized his intention and quickly thrust her hand between their lips and pushed Bowser's face way from her. The princess flushed, praying that Mario had not seen how close Bowser had come to kissing her. Even if Mario hadn't seen, he found out when Bowser burst into laughter.

"Bwhahaha! DENIED!" He said pulling her hand off his face, "Oh, you're good princess, but I'll get'cha next time, I promise!" he added with a wink.

"No you won't!" Peach hissed, taking a step away from him. Bowser just continued to chuckle as he stepped into the hall, looking out both ways before emerging fully,

"All clear, let's get a move on." He said, much quieter than before.

Peach motioned for Mario and Luigi to go before her, wanting to put as much distance between her and Bowser as possible. Mario nodded to her as he passed. What was that supposed to mean? That he was proud of how she handled Bowser, that he was okay with what just happened? She loved the short plumber to bits, but sometimes his indirectness irritated her beyond her limits. Luigi at least whispered "Sorry-a about you're-a dress-a." as he exited the closet.

Once in the hall the group went silent, their feet barely made any noise as they walked. The hall stretched on, but at last they came to a cross-section, with a hallway leading to the left and one leading to the right.

"Which way?" Peach asked.

Mario and Bowser answered simultaneously, "This way." They were pointing in different directions.

The two glared at each other, "_This_ way." Bowser insisted pointing to the left.

"We-a should go-a to the center of-a the castle." Mario replied, pointing to the right, "_This-a_ way."

"I _know_ that, _THIS_ way." Bowser argued.

"I think-a I know-a how to navigate your-a castles Bowsah." Mario folded his arms defiantly.

"Sure you do!" Bowser snarled, "But you have this nasty habit of leaving my castles as smoking ruins when you do! And I'd rather not have this one end up the same way!" He pushed hard on Mario's chest with a finger knocking other shorter man back a step. "Besides I _lived _here for nine-or-so years, I know a short cut. _This way if you don't mind!_" He finished the argument by stomping over to Peach, grabbing her hand and dragging her down the left hall.

"Bowsah!" Luigi gasped running to catch up with them as Peach struggled out of his grip, still mad at him for his attempt to kiss her. Behind them Mario sulked along, obviously upset that Bowser had a point, he _did_ know this castle better...

_And Mario does_ _usually blow up castles..._ Peach shook her head, no, Bowser was always the bad guy in those times, kidnapping her and bringing their kingdoms to the brink of war. Blowing up his castles was a small price to ensure her safety.

Or was it?

Suddenly Peach wondered if Bowser had any personal attachments to any of the castles that had been destroyed in the past. He had spent at least part of his childhood in this castle, had he spent the rest of it in any of the others. She felt a pang of guilt in her. What memories had been lost to him for her sake?

Lost in her thoughts she didn't see Bowser stop in front of her and ended up bumping into him. "Sorry!" She blurted.

Bowser didn't seem to notice, he'd stopped in front of a line of statues. At first glance the princess thought they were all statues of himself, but at a second look she realized she was wrong, the statues were of different koopas, probably past kings. Bowser looked them over, and pointing to each one counting under his breath before moving over to one and pushing it.

He grunted as he did so, the statue didn't budge. He pushed harder, his face turning as red as his hair with the effort, the heavy stone gave way slightly, but didn't move more than a mere inch. Bowser gasped and continued to push, but glared over at the Mario brothers, "Yo! Super Stupid Bros, don't just stand there give me some help with this will ya!" He all but screamed.

Alarmed by the outburst the brothers raced to his aid, and even Peach dropped her shoes and ran to help. With all four of them shoving the statue, she felt the stone move with their combined strength. With a few final grunts the statue gave way completely, moving on its own to the side revealing a hidden tunnel.

Unfortunately, the loss of something solid to press against sent to party tumbling to the floor with a unanimous "Ooooof!". Mario landed face first against the stone ground, his brother falling on top of him. Bowser tried to regain his balance before he fell, but only ended up turning, halfway around in mid fall and landing on his back. Peach had the misfortune to land on top of Bowser in a much more suggestive position than the bothers had in their landing.

For a dizzying moment no one moved, until Bowser managed to lift his head, "You okay Peachie?" He asked.

She blind, and sat up straight, blushing madly, her face had been pressed against Bowser's neck, her lips brushing his throat. "Yesfine!" She squeaked.

"Good, then get off, your crushing my ribs!"

Peach didn't need be told twice. Bowser rolled over and pushed himself to his feet while Mario and Luigi got off the floor. "Where-a does this-a lead Bowsah?" Luigi asked.

"The center of the castle. If you go the right way at least." Bowser took a moment to put his boots back on and went over to the wall and grabbed a torch, "I found this tunnel while hiding from Kammy once. I think it used to be a servants tunnel, but it was long abandoned by the time I found it." He ducked into the entrance and vanished into the darkness the Marios went after him.

"You said if you go the right way...Where else does it lead?" Peach asked unable to hide her curiosity as she followed. Behind them there was a rough sound of moving stone behind them, the statue moving back into place.

"All over the place. Like I said they used to be servants tunnels or something." There was a three way divide in the path ahead. Bowser paused at the fork, the fire light bounced off the walls, creating shadows that almost looked unnatural. The Koopa King looked back and forth between the paths. "This way leads to the dungeon, that one to the treasure room, we want to go _this _way." Bowser started to the left,

"Treasure?" Luigi repeated.

"Don't get any ideas Linguini, by 'treasure' I mean a few of the toys my siblings and I hid down there when we were Koopalings ourselves."

Bowser led them through the tunnels pausing at each intersection, his face twisted trying to remember the path, as they walked in silence it got gradually hotter, like it had back in his main castle, when they had been close to the lava

Five turns later he stopped again. "This isn't right..." He muttered, turning back, "We should have found- there it is!" There was a ladder a few feet from them that lead to an opening.

Just in time, the torch was burning out. Mario went up first, followed by his brother. Bowser nodded for Peach to go a head of him. She climbed up after her friends, Bowser behind her. The Marios had already bounded a head of them. There was an over look ahead which they were peeking over, Bowser gave a short yelp of surprise when one of the steps on the ladder collapsed under him, Peach instinctively grabbed his hand and pulled him up.

"Thanks." He muttered.

Peach was about to tell him it was nothing, but Mario and Luigi gasped simultaneously "Mama Mia!" and looked back and forth between whatever had made them gasp, and Bowser.

"What?" Bowser asked.

Luigi looked back at him, "You-a are not going to believe-a this." he said pointing down.

The two stragglers approached the over look,"Wha-" Bowser started, but quickly saw what had made them gasp. "Oh what the hell!" He snarled.

Bellow them, waiting in the center of a platform over a pool of lava, was Bowser. A perfect replica of his true form. The copy stood staring at the entrance, the one they would have come through if they had gone Marios way, expecting them. The witch Zehtah must have known they would attempt a rescue and created her own false Bowsers to slow them down.

The four of them stood side by side looking over the edge, unnoticed. "What are we going to do?" Peach asked, looking at Mario and Luigi.

Beside her Bowser growled. "_You three_, are going to stay here." He said, climbing up over the edge.

Peach grabbed the back of his vest, "What are you doing!" She hissed pulling him back.

Bowser turned back momentarily to look her in the eyes. "Something insane." He answered.

And then he kissed her.

He moved too fast this time for her to block him, and was gone again before she could push him away "Wish me luck!" He called behind him as he jumped with surprising grace onto the platform.

The three humans were to stunned to say anything, Peach most of all.

"Yo! Stupid! Did you _really_ expect, them come come that way!" Bowser called to his double. Caught off guard the false Bowser whirled around, too fast, it lost its balance, slipping slightly. The human Bowser took this time to jump on its head, the way the Marios usually did to him, but instead of jumping off again, he grabbed two fist fulls of his copy's hair and yanked. The fake Bowser roared in pain, fury and surprise. It had been prepared to fight the Mario brothers it wasn't expecting to fight this guy...and this guy was fighting dirty!

"Don't like that do you, Ugly?" Bowser taunted, "How 'bout this!" He stamped his foot hard against the skull of his imposter, the spikes on his boots inflicting more pain than necessary.

The fake Bowser blew fire in a rage, "GET OFF ME!" He bellowed bucking, trying to dislodge his unwanted passenger. The real Bowser flew off him, but not because he had been successfully thrown off, the human had let go of his own will. The bucking threw him a greater distance than he could have jumped on his own, he landed on the opposite side of the platform. There was a statue on that side. Bowser hit it hard with his fist and the eyes lit up with fire.

The human jumped up onto the statue, holding onto it, the whole platform suddenly buckled and started to drop, everything except the statue, which was a pillar that reached all the way through to the floor. The fake Bowser roared in terror as it fell into the lava. It wasn't real, it couldn't take the heat. As quickly as the platform dropped it rose again, some sort of emergency switch the castle had for whatever reason.

As soon as the floor was back, Bowser jumped down. Mario, Luigi and Peach leaped to meet him on the platform. He looked far too smug for how close he come to killing himself as well as his doppelganger. "You!" Peach cried furiously, as she ran up to him. Bowser smirked at her, stoking her fury further. As soon as she was in range she pounded her fists against his chest with all the might she could muster, "You! You are devious, you are evil,! You are _insane_ !" She kept pounding until Bowser finally caught her hands to stop him.

"Hey, hey! Calm down princess!" He chuckled, more amused at her outburst than anything. "Geeze all this because I kissed you?"

Peach paused a moment, she hadn't even been thinking about the kiss. "No," She said, taking a deep breath. "That was for taking a dangerous risk." She raised a hand and slapped him hard across the face. Bowser fell back a step from the impact and slipped to the floor. Other than a hurt look and rubbing his face, he made no comment. "_That_ was for kissing me." Peach added putting her hands on her hips.

Mario and Luigi both took fearful steps away from her. Bowser looked away and stood up again, "Bah fine." He said dusting himself off, "But for the record, I'm making a personal note that you were more upset about me taking 'a dangerous risk' than you were about me kissing you."

Peach wanted to protest, but had no words and instead just pouted. Bowser turned back to her with his stupid cocky grin. A shape flew behind him, knocking him to the floor.

"Bowser!" Peach gasped!

–

Ludwig had seen the whole thing. He had come down from his room looking for his 'father' to get permission to send a a piece of music to his instructor. Music was a language and if his instructor were to listen to the work in progress he would here that it was actually in code, asking for any information on his real father's plans.

The oldest Koopaling had been about to call out to the false Bowser when he heard a man shout. Nobody stood up to Bowser, even a fake one, except the Mario brothers, so even Ludwig had been caught off guard. In his surprise, he had stood watching dumbly for several minutes while the fight, if you could even call it a fight, went on. He shook his head, why was he just standing there, he should do something! But what? Should he help the fake king, or the stranger? Whose side was he on?

Too late.

The stranger leaped off the fake Bowser's head at the same time he was thrown. He landed near the statue on the other side of the battle platform and within moments the battle was over when the fake was dropped into the lava below. Ludwig couldn't believe what he had just seen, not even the Marios could ever defeat one of his father's copies so fast. Who was this guy?

He stood and watch a moment longer, wondering if he should attack the stranger or ask if he needed assistance. His dilemma was solved for him once again with the appearance of Princess Peach and the two plumbers he had learned to hate as much as his father did. He didn't bother to really watch what happened, all he knew is that the stranger who had defeated the Bowser copy was in league with the Mario brothers, and that made him the enemy.

Ludwig rushed down, ready to prevail where his fake father had failed. He'd worry about the Marios later, right now he tackled the newcomer with all his strength, he was the biggest threat and needed to be taken care of immediately. Then two things happened that made Ludwig falter, landing on the stranger with less force than he initially planned.

The first was that his nose caught wind of a familiar scent, and the second thing was the princess screaming "Bowser!"

"Ow!" The stranger growled under the Koopaling. "Watch the ribs they're bad news already!"

Ludwig kept him pinned for a moment glancing up at the Princess with surprise and confusion as the smell of family wafted into his nostrils. Peach had her hand clasped to her mouth in fear, but dropped them when she recognized Bowser's oldest son and her eyes filled with relief.

Beneath him the new man struggled, "Get the hell off me!" He snarled.

His voice sounded familiar, just like his father's would if it weren't a constant growl. Peach's cry, his father's scent, that voice, heck even the fact that the man knew there was a secret switch in that statue pointed to the impossible truth that the man Ludwig had pinned _was_ Bowser. But still he hesitated, "King Dad...?" He growled unsure.

"Very astute!" The man all but roared, "Now get off, I can't breathe!"

Ludwig jumped off him, and the man, his father got to his feet, turning to face him in fury. Ludwig was willing to accept that Peach could be crazy, and that he was just so desperate to hear some word from his father that he only _thought _ this man smelled and sounded like King Bowser...But there was no mistaking those eyes, no matter what the rest of him looked like, those were his father's eyes.

But that made no sense, "How..." He squeaked feeling ridiculous for how weak his confusion made him look. "What?"

His human father put a hand on the side of his head like he had a headache, a familiar enough gesture to Ludwig, "Its..complicated. Kamek can explain to you when you get home."

"So you're not in league with the witch?" Ludwig asked.

Bowser glared at him, and answered with an irritated growl "If I were in league with the witch would I have let her make off with my kids, let alone do _this_ to me?"

Ludwig looked away shyly, "Yeah of course, Father, I didn't mean that, it just she said-"

"Whatever she said was a lie, just forget about it." Bowser's tone deepened, not threateningly, but enough that Ludwig didn't press any further. "Where are the other brats?"

Ludwig thought back. "After the witch told us you were in alliance with her the false king took us upstairs, there were transports, one for each of us, he told us to get on and that we were going to slow down the Marios, you know like usual, and then he came aboard my transport saying he was going to stick with me for a bit. I assume that there are other copies who went with everyone else."

"Do you know where they went?" Bowser asked.

Ludwig shook his head, "Sorry King Dad, I didn't see or hear anything. I was really hoping...that the witch was telling the truth and you'd come tell me what was happening."

Bowser stepped away from his son, twisting angrily on his heels and punched the statue again, not in a place that activated the switch-trap. Peach placed a hand on his shoulder, she wasn't sure what to say but when Bowser turned to her words of comfort finally made it to her lips, "Everything will be alright." She whispered.

"..." Bowser didn't reply, but moved his fist away from the statue and nodded.

Suddenly Mario, Luigi and Ludwig cried out.

Peach and Bowser whirled around to see what was wrong, just in time to see a cloud of purple energy fly at them. Actually, at Bowser. It collided with him, knocking the man off his feet and throwing him to the floor. Bowser gave one yelp of surprise before the cloud engulfed him.

"Bowser!" Peach shrieked.

Just as suddenly in was over. The cloud vanished into Bowser's body and he stood blinking in confusion, but unharmed. "King Dad!" Ludwig rushed to his father's side. "Are you alright?"

Bowser blinked again, "Am I alright? Bwaahaahaha!" He bust out laughing "Sure am! Better than alright I think! What _was_ that?"

The group turned to each other all confused by what just happened. Ludwig pointed to the pit, "I don't know father, but it came out of the lava, where the the fake was thrown. Are you sure you're alright?"

Bowser ruffled his son's hair, "I said I'm better than alright! Whatever that was, it felt great, like getting a power boost or something!' He winked "I feel like I could take on an entire army of plumbers!"

"King Bowser!"

Everyone jumped at the sound of Kamek's voice. Where did he come from, or actually, better question, where was he? An orb of light dropped in the center of the group, Kamek's face appeared in it. "King Bowser!" he said again.

Bowser poked the orb, "What?" He asked slightly irritated.

"The Warp Pipe you entered disappeared!" Kamek explained, "We've been trying to find you!"

"Well here I am." Bowser rolled his eyes, then he motioned for Ludwig to step into view, "And look what I found."

"Prince Ludwig Van Koopa!" Kamek cried in delight, "Is anyone else there?"

Bowser shook his head, "We'll have to start looking again."

"Perhaps I can help. There was an explosion of Black Magic in your location a few moments ago, like the one from the warp pipe that led you there. Take a look around, maybe you'll find another that will take you to where you need to go next."

"She's-a leading us..." Mario muttered.

Bowser nodded, for once agreeing with the plumber, "...Like lambs to the slaughter."

"So tell me what happened." Kamek said, "I heard shouting a moment ago, what happened?"

Bowser sighed, already bored with this story as he retold what had transpired after they saw the fake Bowser guarding the castle. "And after that they said a purple cloud came out of the lava and went into me. Everyone seems worried, but I feel fine." Kamek cackled suddenly, Bowser's lips twitch with aggravation. "What is it Kamek?"

"You!" Kamek replied pointing to the others, "You bunch of _worrywarts_! That was a bit of Magic! When you went through the draining spell almost all your magic was taken away. Its back now, that cloud gave it back!" Kamek laughed again, until Bowser made him stop.

"Tell me Kamek, were you _always_ a creepy old hag, or did I do something to you to make you like that?" He asked, only half sarcastic.

From beyond Kamek another familiar voice shouted, "_WHO'S A CREEPY OLD HAG!" _Kammy's voice was unmistakeable.

Bowser rolled his eyes again, "Not you! Kamek!"

"Oh. Okay."

"What do you mean 'okay' you bat!"

"Both of you, shut up!" Bowser snapped. "Listen up, I need someone to come pick up Ludwig, and somebody to help trace where that next warp pipe is." Bowser took a quick glance out the window, "We've got plenty of daylight left, but the Princess needs something more travel worthy, I think we should postpone any further rescue attempts until tomorrow and try to figure out-"

He was cut off by Ludwig's protest "Father, don't send me home!"

Bowser glowered at him, "You're going home kiddo. Don't argue with me."

"But I can help you!" Ludwig reasoned.

Bowser didn't respond, Peach glanced at him, he looked almost hurt. Ludwig never argued against his orders before, never questioned his decisions, at least as far as Peach knew, but now he was defying his father outright in front of the people who were usually his enemies, offering help that he didn't typically need or even want. Indirectly insulting his father about his human form.

Peach stepped up for him, "You can help by going home and keeping things under control there. From the sounds of things, Kammy and Kamek might tear the place apart with their constant screaming."

"_What _constant screaming?" Both of them protested.

Ludwig on the other hand, blinked, glancing between Bowser and Peach, his eyes lit up momentarily as he realized what he had said and how it had affected his father. "Good point." he said nodding to Peach, trying to cover up the doubt in his voice, "I need to speak to someone back there anyway. I'll go home as soon as someone comes for me King Dad."

Bowser still didn't say anything, only nodded and turned away, not sure what to say or do, he looked at his hands, wondering maybe, if they were strong enough for the journey ahead. Without warning he took off.

"Bowsah!" Mario cried, almost leaping after the Koopa King.

"Leave him!" Kamek warned, "Trust me, you don't want to be near him when he gets like that." Kamek addressed Ludwig next, "I'll come and get you myself, just stay put, the rest of you...Do whatever it is Bowser was suggesting."

And then just like that Kamek's magic sphere vanished as he cut his magic ties to do his King's bidding. He appeared in person a moment later, having teleported, to pick up Ludwig, the Magikoopa gave them only a nod of acknowledgment before he vanished again taking the oldest Prince of the Darklands with him.

Mario and Luigi sighed, "Well, now what-a do we do-a?" Luigi asked.

"Bowser!" Peach called, hoping the Koopa King hadn't gone too far, "We need to get to that town you mentioned, which way is it?"

There was no answer, but Bowser was back shortly, he beckoned for them to follow, but remained silent, except for one whisper to Peach when she drew near. "Thanks."

She touched his hand. "No problem." She whispered in return.

Her fingers brushed his skin a second longer than she intended...

**Author's end note:** I honestly can't think of a better way to end this chapter. Whatever, I should got to bed, where I am its late, and I was up early.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: **Thank you again for coming back, I'm glad ya'll enjoyed last chapter with the constant teasing (BTW it is so not over XD). Here's chapter 9!

**Warning: **Peach gets a new outfit, Check up on Daisy, and Bowser has a nightmare. Language? Oh probably.

**Disclaimer: **Nintendo is clearly not owned by me, otherwise Bowser/Peach would be completely and fully cannon.

Never Look Back

Peach looked in the mirror in the dressing room, she had never felt less like a Princess in her life.

When Bowser led them to town Peach was terrified that they would be too easily recognized, but apparently it was common for Darklandian girls to dress up as Peach, and boys to take turns being Bowser and the Mario bros, just for fun, but sometimes their were costume competitions, it was pure chance that there was on such competition going on now, in preparation for the opening of the museum

Peach didn't mind so much that they dressed like them, but she did silently object to being portrayed as the poor princess kidnapped by evil plumbers. True not all of the groups did so, but there were an unnerving amount that did. Bowser was delighted to see young lovers dressed as him and Peach; when Mario asked them why they did that they answered, unaware that they were speaking to the real Mario, "Because Bowser and Peach make a better love story, don't you think?"

"I think so." Bowser had smirked in response.

Through the town, Peach was constantly being told it was too bad her dress had been ruined; she smiled politely and told them it was fine, now everyone else had a better chance of winning.

"She even acts like Peach." One Koopa girl had said.

Eventually they found a clothes store; well it was less a clothes store and more a costume shop, where Peach went in to see if she could find something better to wear for the rest of their journey. Bowser and the Marios left her unattended, choosing instead to find a hotel or something to spend the night in.

Peach sighed as she looked over herself in the mirror. Unfortunately for her the Peach costumes were all out of stock so she had to look for other things to wear. What she ended up with was a pair of travel jeans that looked like they were splattered with blood on the left side of her leg, a Pink tanktop that was the top piece to a costume that had been ripped open during a fight for it, but abandoned in favor of some other costume. The brown boots belonged to an archery costume, but the rest of it didn't fit. Her large earrings had been replaced with smaller, fake diamond studs. She couldn't find any gloves she liked, so Peach went on with her arms bare. The princess had also washed the make up off her face.

She felt out of place looking at herself. She didn't look like a princess, and she certainly didn't feel like one with fake blood on her pants. Peach looked herself over, and decided that she still looked too recognizable with her hair down, she had a hair tie with her and started to put it in a high ponytail, only to realize that she'd been to enough sporting events that even with her hair like that she'd be recognized. With another sigh, she took part of her hair out and let it flow over her shoulders and across her breasts, putting the rest of it in a high bun.

That would have to do.

With one more sigh she picked up her ruined dress and prepared to leave the dressing room. At the door she turned one last time to the mirror and for whatever reason, an image of Bowser flashed through her mind and she found her fingers tracing her lips where Bowser had kissed her. She dropped her hand and shook her head, turning away from the dressing room and the mirror. What was she thinking? She turned to the Goomba store owner and asked "What do you think?"

"It lookz fan-tas-tik!" He said with a weird accent that_ might_ have been a speech impediment. "Yoo may not bee prepaired for a costoom compititson any moore, but dat outfeet zoots yoo."

She offered him a smile, "Thank you!" She said sincerely.

"Nao, yoo sed yoo dun 'ave munny, so how doo yoo intend to pae?" The Goomba asked.

Peach handed him her crown and her old earrings, it was difficult to give them up, but she would have to make sacrifices to help save Daisy, a few pieces of jewelry seemed like a small price for her cousin.

The Goomba's eyes widened, for moment Peach was terrified that he wouldn't accept her payment but he squealed, "Really, yoo would giv dose up for dis costoom?" He sounded delighted.

"I'm not going to need them anymore." She replied.

"dat iz fn-tas-tik!" The Goomba cried, "Yoo may take moore accessories if yoo wish, dat is moore dan enof for de costoom! Dollie! Dollie! Come kwik!"

"This is all I…need." Peach trailed off in the middle of telling the Goomba she didn't need any other clothes when another, smaller, female Goomba bounced into the room.

"Wut iz it Dah-dee?" She asked.

"Look heer! Look heer!" The owner, her father apparently, cried, nudging the crown and earings with his feet. "Looks leik you miite git to compete after awl!"

The little girl's eyes teared up. "Where did yoo…?" She looked over at Peach, "Yoo gave dis…?"

Peach nodded, "I can't compete anymore because the rest of my costume was ruined." She said, playing along with the idea that she was only _dressed _like the Mushroom Princess.

Dollie ran over to her, nuzzling her legs "Tank yoo! Tank yoo! Tank yoo!"

Peach allowed herself a giggle, "No problem, good luck!"

The little girl Goomba ran back to her father. "Dah-dee! Dah-dee! Can I tri on the cro-n?"

"Yoo sure can Princis!"

That was the last Peach heard before she left the shop. She was still smiling when she got to the corner. She didn't even see Luigi until she bumped into him."Ah, sorry Miss-a!" Luigi said not taking a second look at her and turning back to the street, probably watching for Princess Peach.

She giggled, "Luigi!"

The plumber in green did a double take at the sound of her voice. "Princess-a Peach?" She nodded, "Mama mia! I didn't recognize you-a at all-a!"

Peach gave a fake curtsy, "That was the idea!"

Luigi took her arm and led her down the street toward what she presumed was the hotel they had gotten to stay the night in "I mean it-a, you-a look completely different-a! I don't think-a even Bowsah could recognize you-a!" Luigi was saying.

"You think so?" Peach giggled.

"Positive-a!"

Of course moments later he was proven horribly wrong when they entered the hotel. They went in separately to maximize the dramatic change in Peach's look. Mario and Bowser stood at the front desk having a heated discussion with the female Boo with a pink ribbon sitting there, Peach could just make out the conversation.

"Mama mia! Our Bowsah, our _Bowsah_, is a _human-a_, and you-a think we-a won't last in the contest-a because my accent-a sounds too fake-a?" Mario was complaining.

"Hey now," Bowser smirked, completely amused by this argument, "I always thought your accent sounded too fake myself." He brushed his fingers through his hair, "Besides, even if I were a _real_ koopa, you know I'd never be as awesome as Big Bad Bowser himself. Gotta work with what I got."

Bowser could be a great actor when he wanted to be.

The woman at the desk laughed, "That's true, but human or not that's still one of best costumes I've seen in years, you even sound a little like him!"

"I practice." Bowser said, and chose at that moment to turn around. His eyes landed on Peach immediately and he broke into a wide smile "There she is!" He cried delightedly, rushing over to hug her, "This is our Peach, sadly like I said her dress got ruined so we can't enter anymore."

"Can't you find another Peach?" The Boo asked.

"Nah, I'm not entering without her." Bowser held her tight.

Another Boo floated in, "Okay, this way to your rooms." he said, nodding to the group.

They followed, Luigi pulled up beside Bowser who hadn't let go of Peach, "How-a did you-a know it was Peach-a?" He asked.

"Easy! I'd know my Peachie if she gained a hundred pounds and shaved herself bald!" Bowser replied with a gentle squeeze.

Peach didn't know whether to be insulted or flattered, so instead she struggled out of Bowser's arms before he decided to try and kiss her again. "I'm not your Peachie." She said plainly.

Bowser groaned sadly when she left his side, but made no further attempts to hold her. The Boo stopped at a set of doors, "For the lady." he said pointing to one room, "And for the men." he finished pointing to the other. "If you need anything we have room service all night, and there's a continental breakfast that starts at seven and ends at ten. You'll also be asked to fill out a survey when you check out, is there anything you need right now?"

"Nah." Bowser said waving his hand at the Boo, "I think all I need right now is some sleep, we had a long day."

"Yes." Peach agreed, "Thank you very much, but I think we're fine."

Satisfied that his customers truly were in no need of further assistance the Boo nodded and vanished through the wall heading back to the lobby. Peach entered her room, and was relieved to see the pure pinkness of it. After all she'd been through the familiar color was oddly comforting, she flopped down on the bed and was surprised at the softness. Perhaps if the walls hadn't been paper thin, she would have fallen asleep instantly.

Instead, she heard Bowser's voice through the wall. "I call this bed!"

"Bowsah! There-a are only-a two beds-a" Luigi said.

"So? These were the only rooms available and I'm not walking out since we already paid. Besides, you guys are brothers, I'm sure you spent sometime under the same covers growing up." Bowser replied, Peach could almost hear the smirk on his face, "unless of course one of you wants to sleep on the floor."

"Boys!" Peach called, "Just deal with it and go to sleep!"

"You heard the Princess," Bowser said, "And if you're quiet I won't speak out of turn about you sharing a bed in the morning."

Peach couldn't hold back a giggle, "Good night guys!"

–

Daisy sighed as she looked out the window. Zehkah came around a lot to talk to her, but her sister never said anything about what her plans for the princess were, or if she would try to kidnap Peach again. Daisy assumed as much, she and Peach must have been kidnapped for a reason, and the fact that Peach had been rescued was perhaps the only reason Zehtah hadn't done whatever it was she was planning.

Daisy sighed again. Zehkah had talked her sister into letting Daisy out of the dungeon, into her own rooms, if this place could be called a room at least. The whole castle, and it was in fact a castle, was covered in dust, possible having been abandoned years ago. Daisy's current rooms were in a tower, pretty far up, her view stretched as far as the eye could see with a great deal of nothing. The land was completely bare, though if Daisy squinted she swore she saw a shadow in the distance, like a far off settlement.

Zehkah treated Daisy nicely, like a friend, Zehtah pretty much ignored her. All in all, the Prrincess in yellow didn't seem to be in any immediate danger, and she wasn't too lonely thanks to Zehkah, but she worried about her cousin, and wondered if Mario and Luigi were coming to get her, and oddly she worried about the Koopalings too.

"I wish I could get out of here..." She whispered to the coming dark. Then she turned away. Didn't Peach usually send letters to Mario and Luigi to give them updates? It wasn't really her style, but Daisy figured she didn't have anything better to do, and lit a few candles before she began looking for something to write with.

Dear Luigi...

–

_Bowser hated the castles in the Mushroom Kingdom. He was used to trick castles, mazes and the like, but the mushroom kingdom's castles just plain all looked the same in each corridor. No matter which way he turned, he always seemed to end up in the same four-way cross section. It frustrated him to say the least, but he didn't actually get worried until he heard Peach scream._

_ "Help! Help me!"_

_ He was used to her calls for help, it was usually what he heard when he visited her castles, but Peach had long stopped sounding so terrified when he came for her. She wasn't afraid of him, which meant something else was upsetting her. This was confirmed by her next shout._

_ "Help! Bowser, help me!"_

_ The princess wasn't calling for Mario or Luigi, or even her parents, she was calling for Bowser._

_ "Peach?" He cried taking off down a random corridor trying to follow her voice, even though he was running, he didn't move very fast, his legs felt unusually heavy, and he couldn't seem to make them move properly. "Peach where are you? Peach!"_

_ "Help me!"_

_ Following the screams Bowser at last came across a new sight, a stairway which led outside, most likely to the roof. He could see a shadow, like the Princess at the top of the stairs waiting for him. "Peach?" He called again._

_ "Aaaahhhh!"_

_ Another shadow swarmed hers, and both vanished from the stair way. "Peach!" Bowser ran up the stairs at full speed. Or at least he would have been if his feet didn't break through the stairs, and get stuck in...what ever that sticky stuff was. Bowser growled, trying to pull his feet free, it was slow going, and he lost his boots some where, but at last he made it to the roof._

_ There he saw Peach, held captive in the arms of a man. The splitting image of him painted black and blue. "Bowser!" Peach cried, "Bowser help me!"_

_ "Let her go!" The Darklandian king snarled._

_ "I have copied all that is you..." his dark twin replied, clutching Peach ever closer to him and igniting Bowser's fury further, "You are no longer necessary..." _

_ The words sounded familiar, but Bowser couldn't quite place where he'd heard it said, or who might of said it, all he knew is that Peach was in danger. He lunged forward, intending to wrestle his princess from his double, but something caught his arms, he glanced over his shoulder and saw two shapes clutching him, preventing him from saving Peach._

_ "Help!" She cried, her voice sounded further away._

_ "Let go!" Bowser snarled shaking the strangers off him. They grabbed hold of him and started to shake, Bowser growled and fought back punching one where he presumed its face was, and grabbing the other around the throat, trying to strangle the life out of it while Peach's screams continued to fade._

_ "Bowser help..."_

"Bowsah, wake up-a!"

_That sounded like..._

Bowser blinked a few times, the shape he was chocking started to focus and he realized it was no stranger he was strangling, but the green clad Mario brother. Mario himself was on the ground clutching his bleeding nose, his eyes wide with worry for his brother. "What the hell?" Bowser said dropping the guy in green. "What the hell were you guys doing!" He growled

Luigi clutched his throat gasping deep breaths, his face had a slight blue tint to it. Mario patted his back "You-a okay, bro?" He asked, Luigi nodded but kept gasping, Mario turned to Bowser with a glower, "We -a were just-a trying to get you-a awake, you-a sounded like you-a were having a bad-a dream. Then you-a tried to kill-a us!"

Bowser snarled at him, "Well what do you expect when you attack me while I'm sleeping?"

"We-a didn't attack you-a!" Mario protested, "We-a were trying-a to wake you-a up!"

"What's the difference!" Bowser picked up a pillow and threw it at Mario, "Don't bug me when I'm sleeping!"

The pillow hit with remarkable accuracy, knocking Mario onto his back. Bowser took the time to notice that his legs were tangled pretty badly in his blankets, no wonder he hadn't been able to run very fast. Frustrated and refusing to admit he'd been having a nightmare, Bowser glanced at the clock, nine am sharp, might as well get up. While the Marios continued to fuss over Bowser's early morning attempt on their lives, Bowser simply ignored them and focused on his dream.

He remembered it. That stupid Dark Star thing that had copied his DNA and faced him as a double. He'd had that dream several times since that final battle with it, but it hadn't bothered him near as much in the past. He couldn't figure out why it was now.

Bowser stopped in his tracks suddenly. Mario bumped square into him. "Bowsah? What's wrong?"

"N-nothing." The Koopa King lied and continued walking, "Jus' got a little dizzy..." He realized what had been different about this dream that it had such an affect on him this time, more than any other dream like it.

This time he had been human...

**Author's End note: **Eh, probably not the best place to leave off, but I don't know where would be a better one. See you all next time I update, thanks for reading!


End file.
